DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 11, 2023) – Despite a goal from junior Julian Holland (Tokyo, Japan/Iowa Western CC), the No. 24 Mercy University men's soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision to Wilmington University in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (6-2-4) see their 10-game unbeaten streak come to an end and lose for the first time since their season opener. Mercy drops their first regular season home game since a loss to Dominican on November 4, 2021. The Wildcats (5-4-2) have won four games in a row. Wilmington entered the game ranked 10th in the latest United Soccer Coaches East Region Poll.
Mercy was led by Holland who netted his third goal of the season and by sophomore Mathias Schilbred-Eriksen (Bergen, Norway/Tertnes Videregaende Skole) who dished out his second assist of the year. Junior Eirik Elvestad (Oslo, Norway/Blindern VGS) made a game-high six saves to take the loss.
Wilmington was led by Sora Noda, Tyrese Small, Caesar Knapp and Troy Paul who all scored. Charlie Phillips made four saves to earn the win in goal.
The game remained scoreless until the 15th minute when Holland fired a Schilbred-Eriksen corner kick into the back of the net, giving Mercy a 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 until the 30th minute when Noda found the back of the net after a cross from Max Norden and Yohan Kim, tying the score at 1-1. The score remained tied at 1-1 at halftime.
The score was tied at 1-1 until the 52nd minute when Knapp fired home a cross from Norden to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. Phillips made a pair of key saves on Carlos Fernandes (Lisbon, Portugal/Spring Hill College) and Johannes Hanken Tjostheim (Aalesund, Norway/Spring Hill College) shots later in the half to keep Wilmington ahead. Paul made it 3-1 in the 61st minute with a free kick from outside the box.
Small recorded the final Wilmington goal in the 67th minute on a header following a Kim corner kick to put the Wildcats up, 4-1.
The Mavericks could not find the back of the net again and Wilmington earned the 4-1 win.
Wilmington held a 17-9 edge in shots and a 10-5 edge in shots on goal. Wilmington also held a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, October 14th when they host Molloy at 12 p.m.
