DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 1, 2022) – The No. 3 seed Mercy College men's soccer team plays at No. 2 seed Queens College in an ECC Men's Soccer Championship Semifinal on Thursday, November 3rd at 7 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Thursday, November 3rd 7 p.m.
Records: No. 3 Mercy (11-2-4, 4-1-3 ECC), No. 2 Queens (13-5, 6-2 ECC)
Location: Flushing, N.Y.
Tickets
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
All Games
$8 -General Admission (ticket price raised to $10 starting at midnight the day of the game)
$4 – Students with ID, Senior Citizens, Children Ages 2-5 (ticket price raised to $5 starting at midnight day of the game)
Children under 2 free for all games
* Tickets must be purchased at the link above. Cash will not be accepted so walkup tickets at the venue still must be purchased through the ECC website (QR code will be available at the gate).
Last Meeting vs. Queens
Mercy earned a 3-1 win over Queens on September 21, 2022 at Mercy Field.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 1-1 draw against Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by junior Daniel Rodriguez who scored and by senior Vasco Baptista who had an assist. Sophomore Eirik Elvestad made four saves. Elvestad was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week, freshman Mateo Bacigalupo was tabbed Rookie of the Week and Baptista was named to the Honor Roll on Monday. Sophomore Martin Penafiel was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week last week. On October 11th, sophomore Elvestad was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week and freshman Mathias Schilbred-Eriksen was tabbed Rookie of the Week. Mercy has qualified for the ECC Championship for the fourth time in five seasons. The Mavericks are making their first appearance since 2019 and are looking for their fifth ECC Championship. In 2019, Mercy won their last ECC Championship. The Mavericks are looking to advance to the Final for the third time in four seasons. Mercy is 7-7-1 against Queens in their last 15 meetings, but the Mavericks have won the last five meetings. Mercy is ranked No. 14 nationally in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll and sixth in the latest NCAA Super-Region 1 Regional Rankings. Senior Benjamin Van Buren was named to the ECC Honor Roll on September 19th and has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week once. Van Buren scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute of Mercy's season-opening win over Saint Rose on August 25th and scored the game-winning goal in the win over D'Youville on Saturday. He has three goals. Sophomore Luis Silva has a team-high six goals and 13 points. Freshman Nicolás Cerda was named ECC Rookie of the Week on September 6th and has two goals and an assist. Senior David Breitenbach has five goals and 11 points and freshman Mateo Bacigalupo has two goals on the season, recording the game-winning goal in Mercy's win over New Haven on August 28th and against Bridgeport on October 26th. He was named to the ECC Honor Roll on August 29th. Junior Daniel Rodriguez has a team-high-tying 13 points on the year on four goals and five assists. Junior Carlos Fernandes has a goal and an assist on the year and Schilbred-Eriksen has six assists. Sophomore Martin Penafiel also has a goal and two assists. Baptista recorded his first collegiate goal in the win over Daemen on September 10th and has 13 points on three goals and a team-high seven assists. Senior Marco Passera has scored two goals. Elvestad is 10-1-4 in goal with 42 saves, a .792 save percentage and 0.76 goals-against average. Freshman Simon Steffensen is 1-1 in net with eight saves, a .727 save percentage and 1.20 goals-against average. Mercy enters the 2022 season looking to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons and qualify for the ECC Championship for the fourth time in five seasons under seventh-year head coach Pedro Velazquez. The Mavericks went 9-5-2 last season and missed qualifying for the ECC Championship due to a tiebreaker. Mercy has posted a winning record in each of Velazquez's five seasons as head coach. The Mavericks are looking to win their first ECC Championship since 2019 and were picked third in the ECC Preseason Poll. Mercy's leading returning scorer is Dalmau who had nine points on four goals and one assist in 2021. Breitenbach also returns after posting two goals and three assists. Penafiel returns after recording two goals and two assists and Van Buren and Kevin Aguilar return on defense.
Scouting the Knights
Queens is coming off a 4-0 win over Staten Island on Saturday. The Knights enter Thursday's game on a five-game winning streak. Queens earned their first ECC Championship berth since 2018 and will be hosting a tournament game for the first time in program history. The Knights look to advance to the Final for the first time and are looking for their first-ever ECC Championship. Queens was ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Super-Region 1 Regional Rankings released last week. The Knights are led by Adolfo Martinez Paquet who has a team-high 24 points and 11 goals. Leo Pinto is second on the team with 14 points on five goals and four assists. David Oprea has nine points on four goals and one assist. Dario Cruz is 13-5 in goal with 61 saves, a .772 save percentage and 1.05 goals-against average in 18 starts.
Next Game
The winner of Thursday's game plays in the Final on Sunday, November 6th at a time to be announced.
