DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 8, 2024) – The No. 2 seeded Mercy University men's soccer team hosts No. 6 seeded University of the District of Columbia in the Semifinals of the ECC Men's Soccer Championship on Sunday, November 10th at 1 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Sunday, November 10th 1 p.m.
Records: #2 Mercy (9-2-5, 5-0-3 ECC), #6 District of Columbia (6-7-4, 3-4-1 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Championship Central
Tickets
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
All Games
$10 – General Admission for adults
$5 – Students w/ID, Senior Citizens and Children 5 and Up
Children under 5 are free of charge
*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. UDC
Mercy earned a 5-1 win at UDC on September 28, 2024.
Scouting the Mavericks
The Mavericks are coming off a 3-1 Senior Day win over STAC on Saturday. Mercy was led by junior Johannes Hanken Tjostheim who scored two goals and by junior Santiago Serrano who also scored. Mercy opens the 2024 season looking to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six seasons and qualify for the ECC Championship sixth time in seven seasons under ninth-year head coach Pedro Velazquez. The Mavericks went 9-4-5 last season, advancing to the Semifinals of the ECC Championship. Mercy was picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll and senior Eirik Elvestad was named ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Velazquez and the Mavericks return five of their top seven scorers from last year and return reigning ECC Defensive Player of the Year senior Julian Holland as well as 2022 ECC Defensive Player of the Year graduate student Benjamin Van Buren. Junior Johannes Hanken Tjostheim returns for the Mavericks after being named United Soccer Coaches First Team All-Region, D2CCA Second Team All-Region and First Team All-ECC. The junior had 13 goals, four assists, 30 points and four game-winning goals last season. Hanken Tjostheim led the team in goals and points and tied for the ECC lead in goals. Junior Mateo Bacigalupo also returns after posting three goals and four assists in 2023. Holland was also named United Soccer Coaches First Team All-Region and D2CCA First Team All-Region a year ago and posted three goals and three assists. Junior Jorgen Krohn-Pettersen and senior Antonio Sas both return after combining for five goals and one assist. Van Buren was named United Soccer Coaches First Team All-Region and D2CCA First Team All-Region in 2022 after netting three goals and six points. Senior Martin Penafiel returns after recording a goal and three assists in 2023 and junior Mathias Schilbred-Eriksen is back after being named Third Team All-ECC a year ago. Schilbred-Eriksen dished out four assists in 17 games in 2023. Elvestad is back in goal for the Mavericks after being named ECC Goalkeeper of the Year for the second straight year. The senior went 9-4-5 in goal last season with 63 saves, a .750 save percentage, 1.18 goals-against average and six shutouts. Elvestad recorded his 100th career save last season and set the school record for career shutouts.
Mercy is making their sixth ECC Championship appearance in seven seasons. The Mavericks look to win their sixth ECC Championship. Mercy previously won the ECC Championship in 1989, 1992, 2004, 2019 and 2022. The Mavericks look to advance to the Final for the first time since 2022. Mercy has advanced to the Final in three of the last five seasons. Hanken Tjostheim was named ECC Offensive Player of the Year and senior Julian Holland was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday. Hanken Tjostheim, Holland, sophomore Marcel Duffau, Santiago and graduate student Benjamin Van Buren were named First Team All-ECC and juniors Mathias Schilbred-Eriksen and Jorgen Krohn-Pettersen and senior Eirik Elvestad were tabbed Second Team All-ECC. Hanken Tjostheim was named ECC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday and Serrano was named to the Honor Roll on Monday. Senior Julian Holland, Hanken Tjostheim and freshman Herman Borke were named to the ECC Honor Roll last week. Hanken Tjostheim and Sas were named to the ECC Honor Roll last week. Senior Eirik Elvestad was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week for a second time on October 7th and Hanken Tjostheim was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Hanken Tjostheim and senior Julian Holland were named to the ECC Honor Roll on September 30th. Holland was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on September 23rd and Hanken Tjostheim and Elvestad were tabbed to the Honor Roll. Hanken Tjostheim was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on September 16th and graduate student Benjamin Van Buren was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week. Elvestad was named to the Honor Roll. Elvestad was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week on September 9th. Hanken Tjostheim has a team-high 22 goals and 50 points on the year and Bacigalupo has four goals and 10 points. Hanken Tjostheim currently leads Division II in goals and points and has tied the single-season school record for goals. Hanken Tjostheim also recorded his 100th career point against STAC on November 2nd. Sophomore Marcel Duffau has a goal and three assists and senior Juan Jose Alvarez Acosta has three assists. Junior Mathias Schilbred-Eriksen has two assists on the year. Senior Martin Penafiel has three assists with one goal on the year. Junior Hugo Martin has three goals, and junior Santiago Serrano has three goals and five assists on the year. Holland has five assists with two goals and freshman Santiago Dutilh has one assist. Sas has two goals and three assists. Senior Franco Acri has two assists and Souhail has a goal and an assist. Borke has two goals and two assists and Nicolas Cerda has one goal. Elvestad is 8-2-4 in goal with 60 saves, a 1.05 goals-against average and .800 save percentage with six shutouts. Mercy is ranked No. 19 nationally in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Mavericks are also ranked third in the United Soccer East Region Poll. The Mavericks are ranked ninth in the latest NCAA Super-Region 1 Regional Rankings. Mercy is 9-5-3 in their last 17 meetings against UDC. Mercy is 4-0-2 in their last six meetings against the Firebirds. The Mavericks last loss to UDC came in 2017.
Scouting the Firebirds
UDC is coming off a 3-2 win at No. 3 seed Roberts Wesleyan in the First Round of the ECC Championship on Thursday. The Firebirds have advanced to the Semifinals for the second straight year and are 3-0-2 in their last five games. UDC looks to advance to the Final for the second straight year and is looking for their first-ever ECC Championship. The Firebirds are led by Second Team All-ECC selection Ignacio Lopez who has a team-high 13 points on four goals and a team-high five assists. Second Team All-ECC performer Santiago Gordillo Martinez has a team-high six goals with 12 points and Third Team All-ECC recipient Ignacio Pericet has five goals on the year. Sergio Becerra is 1-6-2 in goal with 47 saves, a .681 save percentage and 2.61 goals-against average. Giovanni Llamas is 5-1-2 in goal with 52 saves, a .825 save percentage and 1.27 goals-against average.
Next Game
The winner of Sunday's game will play in the ECC Final on Sunday, November 17th.
