DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Oct. 23, 2024) – Powered by goals from junior Johannes Hanken Tjostheim (Aalesund, Norway/Spring Hill College) and freshman Herman Borke (Nesoeya, Norway/Doenski Videregaaende Skole) and a game-high-tying six saves from senior Simon Steffensen (Aalborg, Denmark/Aalborghus Gymnasium), the No. 20 Mercy University men's soccer team earned a 2-2 draw against ECC foe Queens College on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (6-2-5, 3-0-3 ECC) remain unbeaten in ECC play, while the defending ECC Champion Knights (8-4-2, 5-0-1 ECC) stay unbeaten in ECC play and earn their first ECC draw of the season.
Mercy was led by Hanken Tjostheim who netted his team-leading 16th goal of the season and now has a team-high 36 points on the year. Borke recorded his first collegiate goal and senior Julian Holland (Tokyo, Japan/Iowa Western CC) recorded his fourth assist of the year. Senior Eirik Elvestad (Oslo, Norway/Blindern VGS) made three saves with two goals allowed in the first 50:38 minutes of action. Steffensen stopped six shots with no goals allowed in the final 39:22 minutes of action in his season debut to earn the draw.
Queens was led by Carlos Almeida and Joaquim Johnson who both scored. Thanasis Shehadeh made a game-high-tying six saves to earn the draw.
Shehadeh made two early saves and Elvestad also made a save to keep the game scoreless. Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute when junior Santiago Serrano (Bogota, Colombia/Rogers State University) was fouled in the box and Hanken Tjostheim scored on the ensuing penalty kick.
Elvestad stopped two more shots and Shehadeh recorded three more saves before Johnson scored following a cross from Harry Cooke to even the score at 1-1 in the 43rd minute. The score remained 1-1 at halftime.
Queens took a 2-1 lead in the 51st minute when Almeida scored following a cross from Bastian Engeli. Steffensen came up with three key saves to keep the Knights from scoring again and Borke evened the score again at 2-2 in the 78th minute when he scored after a Holland assist.
Steffensen made three more saves and a Harry Cooke shot hit the right post, keeping Queens from taking the lead and the game ended in a 2-2 tie.
Mercy held a 16-14 edge in shots and Queens held an 11-8 edge in shots on goal. Mercy held a 12-2 edge in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, October 26th when they play at Daemen at 2:30 p.m.
