DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 18, 2021) – Led by goals from graduate student Pau Echarri (Madrid, Spain/Universidad Ceu San Pablo) and junior Matthias Kuhn (Viernheim, Germany/University of Mannheim), the Mercy College men's soccer team opened ECC play with a 2-0 victory over College of Staten Island on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.

The Mavericks (4-1, 1-0 ECC) have won four games in a row and are 14-0-2 in their last 16 home games. Mercy also wins their ECC opener for the third straight year, while the Dolphins (0-4, 0-1 ECC) remain winless on the year.

Echarri scored his first goal as a Maverick and Kuhn picked up his second goal of the year. Freshman Martin Penafiel (Santiago, Chile/Colegio Verbo Divino) recorded his first collegiate assist and freshman Eirik Elvestad (Oslo, Norway/Blindern VGS) played the full 90 minutes in goal to earn the win.

Staten Island was led by Bougary Sissoko who had a game-high six saves.

In what is becoming a trend, the Mavericks wasted little in taking the lead as they scored in just the 4th minute of action to take a 1-0 lead. Penafiel fed a pass to Echarri who fired the ball into the right of the net to give Mercy the early lead.

The score remained 1-0 heading into halftime as Sissoko made four saves in the opening half.

It stayed 1-0 heading late into the second half with Sissoko stopping two more shots to keep the Dolphins within a goal. Mercy drew a foul in the box in the 84th minute and Kuhn found the back of the net on the ensuing penalty kick to give the Mavericks an insurance goal.

Mercy held on for the 2-0 win with their defense not allowing a shot in the second half.

Mercy held a 14-6 edge in shots and Staten Island held a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.

Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, September 21st when they host Georgian Court at 3 p.m.