DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 3, 2021) – The Mercy College men's soccer team hosts Dominican on Thursday, November 4th at 2 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Thursday, November 4th 2 p.m.
Records: Mercy (8-4-2), Dominican (9-5-2)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting
Mercy earned a 3-1 win at Dominican on September 17, 2019.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 2-1 double-overtime win over Daemen on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by junior David Breitenbach who scored the game-winning goal. Mercy also received a goal from graduate student Pau Echarri and assists from senior Archie Jones and Rainiero Salas. Graduate student Felipe Baeza made four saves to earn the win. The Mavericks have won four straight matchups against the Chargers with the last loss coming in 2014. Mercy was ranked 12th in the first NCAA Super Region 1 Regional Rankings released last week. Breitenbach was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after scoring the game-winning goal against Daemen. Echarri is a one-time ECC Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week and leads the team with 14 points on six goals and two assists. Junior Matthias Kuhn, a one-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week, is second on the team with 13 points on a team-high-tying six goals with one assist. Jones is third on the team with 12 points on the year by way of four goals and a team-high four assists. Salas has two goals and three assists 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 one goal and 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, a one-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week, is 4-3-1 in goal for the Mavericks with 32 saves and a .744 save percentage in eight starts. Freshman Eirik Elvestad is 4-1-1 in goal with four shutouts, 13 saves and a .813 save percentage and was named ECC Rookie of the Week on October 18th.
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 Chargers
Dominican earned a 2-0 win over Felician in their last game on Tuesday. The Chargers are 6-1-1 in their last eight games and have secured a spot in the CACC Tournament. Dominican was picked sixth in the CACC Coaches' Poll after going 4-1 in the spring of 2021 and 8-11 in 2019. The Chargers are led by junior Marouf Barry who has a team-high 17 points on six goals and five assists. Junior Ewan Gray has 15 points on seven goals and one assist and junior Maximino Casares Martinez has four goals and a team-high six assists. Junior Lucas Silva Pereria is 9-3-2 in goal with 41 saves, a .707 save percentage, 1.18 goals against average and four shutouts.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Saturday, November 6th when they play at D'Youville at 2:30 p.m.
