DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 3, 2021) – The RV Mercy College men's soccer team hosts Southern Connecticut State in their home opener on Saturday, September 4th at 3 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, September 4th 3 p.m.
Records: RV Mercy (0-1), Southern Connecticut State (5-7-4)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting
The teams last met on September 7, 2019 and played to a 2-2 tie at Southern Connecticut.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is playing their first home game in 657 days after not playing during the 2020-21 academic year due to COVID-19. 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 are currently receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and were picked first in the ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Mavericks are coming off a 1-0 loss in their season opener on Thursday at American International. Mercy was led by freshman Martin Penafiel who had a team-high four shots and freshman Eirik Elvestad made two saves. The Mavericks are unbeaten in their last 12 home games at Mercy Field, going 10-0-2.
Leading the returners is ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year junior Matthias Kuhn who was named Third Team All-ECC as a freshman. Seniors Archie Jones, Saul Melendez and Kevin Aguilar and juniors Rainiero 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. Seniors Tormod Simonsen, Javier Mangado and Abraham Lopez and juniors Benjamin Van Buren, Marco Passera, Jens Ovreseth, David Breitenbach and Isaí Carrillo all joined the team during the 2020-21 academic year and graduate student Felipe 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 Owls
Southern Connecticut was picked seventh in the NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll after going 5-7-4 overall in 2019 and 4-6-2 in the strong NE10. The Owls scored 21 goals during the 2019 season while going up 1.9 per contest. Leading the returners is Juan Avila who started 13 of the 15 games in which he appeared and had two goals and one assist. Matthew Surette appeared in 15 of 16 contests off the bench in 2019 and scored one goal.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Wednesday, September 8th when they host Adelphi at 3 p.m.
