DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 7, 2021) – The Mercy College men's soccer team hosts ECC foe University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, October 9th at 12 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, October 9th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (4-4-1, 1-2-1 ECC), District of Columbia (5-4, 4-0 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting
Mercy earned a 3-1 win over UDC on November 9, 2019.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday. The Mavericks were led by senior Archie Jones and graduate student Pau Echarri who both scored. Junior David Breitenbach and senior Abraham Lopez added assists and graduate student Felipe Baeza had six saves. Jones has a team-high eight points on the year by way of three goals and two assists. One-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week junior Matthias Kuhn has seven points on three goals and one assist and Echarri has three goals and six points. Echarri was named ECC Rookie of the Week on Monday and 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 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 two assists on the year and senior Tormod Simonsen has one assist on the year. Baeza is 2-3-1 in goal for the Mavericks with 21 saves and a .677 save percentage in six starts. Freshman Eirik Elvestad made the start against Staten Island and is 2-1 in goal with three saves and two shutouts.
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 junior 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 Firebirds
UDC is coming off a 3-1 win over Queens on Saturday. The Firebirds have won five games in a row after starting the season 0-4. UDC was picked fifth in the ECC Coaches' Poll after going 7-11 in 2019. The Firebirds are led by senior Vitor Gomes who has a team-high 20 points on nine goals and two assists. Senior Michel Egbame has seven points on two goals and three assists and junior Joseluiz Avalos and freshman Ignacio Pericet both have three goals. Senior Javier Abadia Torres has made seven starts in goal and has 31 saves and a .646 save percentage.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Saturday, October 16th when they play at Molloy at 12 p.m.
