DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 6, 2021) – The Mercy College men's soccer team hosts Adelphi on Wednesday, September 8th at 3 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Wednesday, September 8th 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (1-1), Adelphi (0-1-1)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting
The teams last met on September 4, 2014 with Adelphi earning a 4-2 win in Garden City.
Scouting the Mavericks
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 Matthias Kuhn was named Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
The Mavericks are coming off a 2-0 win in their home opener on Saturday against Southern Connecticut State to give Head Coach Pedro Velazquez his 50th career win. Mercy was led by senior Javier Mangado and junior Rainiero Salas who both scored goals. Graduate student Felipe Baeza made two saves to post a shutout in his first start as a Maverick. Mangado netted the game-winning goal less than a minute in following a Tormod Simonsen corner and Salas added a penalty kick goal with three seconds left to give Mercy their first win of the season. The Mavericks are unbeaten in their last 13 home games at Mercy Field, going 11-0-2.
Leading the returners is Kuhn who was named Third Team All-ECC as a freshman. Seniors Archie Jones, Saul Melendez and Kevin Aguilar and 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 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 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 Panthers
Adelphi opened their 2021 season on Thursday with a 2-2 tie at Post University and then fell 3-1 at Wilmington on Sunday. The Panthers have been led by Rodrigo Descalzo Rocca and Paolo Marciano who both had a goal and an assist in the opening week. Peri Filippo also scored and Ofek Pinto dished out an assist. Harry Beasley made the start in goal in both games and made eight saves while allowing five goals in 200 minutes. Adelphi went 15-3-1 in 2019 and were picked second in the NE10 Coaches' Poll. The Panthers have claimed two of the past four NE10 Titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. Marciano had 12 goals in 2019 to help lead an offense that led the NE10 in scoring at 2.47 goals per game. Adelphi was ranked No. 15 in the nation to begin the season and earned the program's first-ever No. 1 national ranking in 2019.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Wednesday, September 15th when they host Saint Rose at 3 p.m.
