DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 27, 2021) – The Mercy College men's soccer team hosts ECC foe Bridgeport on Wednesday, September 29th at 3 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 29th 3 p.m.

Records: Mercy (4-2-1, 1-0-1 ECC), Bridgeport (1-3-2, 1-1 ECC)

Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Last Meeting

Mercy defeated Bridgeport in penalty kicks to win the ECC Championship on November 16, 2019.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy is coming off a 2-2 tie against Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by senior Archie Jones and junior Matthias Kuhn who both scored goals. Junior David Breitenbach had two assists and freshman Martin Penafiel had an assist. Graduate student Felipe Baeza made three saves in 110 minutes of action. Mercy is ranked fifth in the latest United Soccer Coaches East Region Poll. Kuhn has a team-high seven points on three goals and one assist and Jones and senior Rainiero Salas have two goals and one assist on the year. Kuhn was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on last Monday. Salas was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll on September 13th. Senior Javier Mangado has a goal and an assist and graduate student Pau Echarri also has a goal. 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. Breitenbach and Penafiel both have a team-high two assists on the year and senior Tormod Simonsen has one assist on the year. Graduate student Felipe Baeza is 2-1-1 in goal for the Mavericks with 10 saves and a .667 save percentage in four 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 Purple Knights

Bridgeport is coming off a 1-0 loss to Molloy on Saturday. The Purple Knights opened ECC play with a 1-0 win over Queens on September 18th. Bridgeport was picked third in the ECC Coaches' Poll after going 11-5-2 in 2019. The Purple Knights have been led by junior Chigozie Okorie who has a team-high two goals and four points. Senior Hannes Nilsson, junior Luis Rubio and freshman Lucas Sousa have also scored goals. Senior Clement Anet is 1-3-2 in goal this season with 23 saves and a .697 save percentage in six starts.

Next Game

Mercy resumes action on Sunday, October 3rd when they play at STAC at 1 p.m.