BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Oct. 26, 2022) – Powered by goals from senior David Breitenbach (Mannheim, Germany/Barton College) and freshman Mateo Bacigalupo (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Colegio Cardenal Newman), the No. 14 Mercy College men's soccer team earned a 2-0 win over University of Bridgeport on Wednesday afternoon at Knights Field.
The Mavericks (11-2-3) have won two games in a row and are unbeaten in their last six games. Mercy defeats the Purple Knights (10-5-3) in regular season action for the first time since 2017. The Mavericks have also secured their fourth ECC Championship berth in the last five seasons.
Breitenbach netted his fifth goal of the season and Bacigalupo recorded his second collegiate goal. Junior Carlos Fernandes (Lisbon, Portugal/Spring Hill College) added his second assist of the season and senior Vasco Baptista (Alges, Portugal/Escola Secudaria Miraflores) dished out his team-high-tying sixth assist of the season. Sophomore Luís Silva (Esposende, Portugal/Knox College) picked up his first assist as a Maverick. Sophomore Eirik Elvestad (Oslo, Norway/Blindern VGS) made three saves to earn his seventh shutout of the season.
Bridgeport was led by Maximilian Kissel who had a team-high two shots on goal. Clement Anet made four saves to take the loss.
Elvestad made all three of his saves in the first half and Anet stopped two shots to keep the game scoreless at halftime.
The Mavericks had a chance in the 50th minute but a Bacigalupo shot was stopped by a Bridgeport defender to keep the game scoreless. Jesse Clark later hit the post for Bridgeport just over a minute later.
Mercy finally broke the scoreless tie in the 62nd minute when Fernandes delivered a drop pass to the top of the box and Bacigalupo fired the shot to the far post to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
Breitenbach made it 2-0 in the 77th minute after two short passes from Baptista and Silva. The Mavericks defense would not allow another shot on goal to come away with the impressive road win.
Bridgeport held a 9-7 edge in shots and Mercy held a 7-3 edge in shots on goal. Corner kicks were tied at 5-5.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, October 29th when they host Roberts Wesleyan for Senior Day at 1:30 p.m.
