DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 21, 2021) – The Mercy College men's soccer team plays ECC foe Queens on Friday, October 22nd at 2 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, October 22nd 2 p.m.
Records: Mercy (6-4-2, 2-2-2 ECC), Queens (6-5, 2-4 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting
Mercy earned a 2-1 win over Queens on September 21, 2019.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 1-0 win over Jefferson on Tuesday for their second straight win. The Mavericks were led by freshman Martin Penafiel who scored his first collegiate goal and by graduate student Felipe Baeza who made a season-high seven saves. Mercy is looking to win their fourth straight matchup against Queens. The Mavericks last lost to the Knights in 2015. Junior Matthias Kuhn, a one-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week, has a team-high 11 points on a team-high five goals with one assist. Senior Archie Jones is second on the team with eight points on the year by way of three goals and two assists. Graduate student Pau Echarri has three goals, one assist and seven points. Echarri was named ECC Rookie of the Week on October 4th. Senior Rainiero Salas has two goals and one assist on the year and was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll on September 13th. Senior Javier Mangado has a goal and an assist and junior David Breitenbach has a team-high three assists on the year. Senior Abraham Lopez scored the game-winning goal in Mercy's win over Saint Rose on September 15th and junior Marco Passera has one goal on the year. Freshman Martin Penafiel has a goal and two assists on the year and senior Tormod Simonsen has one assist. Graduate student Felipe Baeza is 3-3-1 in goal for the Mavericks with 28 saves and a .737 save percentage in seven starts. Freshman Eirik Elvestad is 3-1-1 in goal with four shutouts, nine saves and a .900 save percentage and was named ECC Rookie of the Week earlier this week.
The Mavericks are looking to defend their ECC Championship from 2019 and look to make the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. In 2019, Mercy went 14-4-3 and won their first ECC Tournament Championship since 2004. The Mavericks were picked first in the ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll and Kuhn was named Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Leading the returners is Kuhn who was named Third Team All-ECC as a freshman. Jones, Saul Melendez Kevin Aguilar, Salas, Vasco Baptista, Hamza Khan and David Sassano return from the team in 2019. Jones had four goals and five assists in 2019 and Salas had a goal and two assists. Head Coach Pedro Velazquez also welcomes nine transfers that have joined the team over the last two years. Simonsen, Mangado and Lopez and juniors Benjamin Van Buren, Passera, Jens Ovreseth, Breitenbach and Isaí Carrillo all joined the team during the 2020-21 academic year and Baeza transferred in for this year. Simonsen transferred from Seton Hill University where he had a goal and an assist in 11 starts in 2019. Mangado transfers from Wheeling University where he had a goal and two assists in 2019 in 14 starts. Lopez joins the team from Harding University where he made five starts and played in 20 games in two years. Van Buren transfers in from Division I USC Upstate where he started 12 games in 2019. Passera played at Spring Hill College in 2019 where he had an assist in 13 games and Ovreseth comes from Davis & Elkins College where he had two goals and four assists in 2019. Breitenbach posted six goals and three assists in 2019 for Barton College prior to joining Mercy. Carrillo joins the team from Notre Dame de Namur University where he started 16 games in 2019 with one assist. Baeza joins the team in 2021 from Division I USC Upstate where he went 5-4-2 in goal with 35 saves in 2020-21.
Scouting the Knights
Queens is coming off a 5-1 loss to Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday. The Knights have lost three of their last four games after winning four of their previous five games. Queens was picked seventh in the ECC Coaches' Poll after going 6-7-3 in 2019. The Knights are led by sophomore Nicholas Tagios who has a team-high 15 points on a team-high seven goals with one assist. Freshman Leonel Zelaya has seven points on two goals and three assists and sophomore Tobias Holtz has a team-high four assists with six points. Junior Dario Cruz is 6-5 in goal with 44 saves, a .710 save percentage and three shutouts in 11 starts.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Saturday, October 30th when they host Daemen at 3 p.m. for Senior Day.
