WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 28, 2024) – Powered by four different Mavericks scoring, the No. 25 Mercy University men's soccer team earned a convincing 5-1 win at ECC foe University of the District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon.

The Mavericks (4-0-2, 2-0-1 ECC) remain unbeaten on the year and in ECC play. Mercy improves to 4-0-2 in their last six meetings against the Firebirds (1-5-2, 0-2 ECC).

Mercy was led by junior Johannes Hanken Tjostheim (Aalesund, Norway/Spring Hill College) who had a game-high two goals with an assist. The junior now has a team-high 10 goals and 22 points on the year. Junior Hugo Martin (Malaga, Spain/Rogers State University) recorded his second goal of the season and sophomore Marcel Duffau (Santiago, Chile/Dunalastair School) and senior Julian Holland (Tokyo, Japan/Iowa Western CC) each netted their first goals of the season. Senior Juan Jose Alvarez Acosta (Medellin, Colombia/St. Andrews University), Duffau, juniors Mathias Schilbred-Eriksen (Bergen, Norway/Tertnes Videregaaende Skole) and Santiago Serrano (Bogota, Colombia/Rogers State University) and freshman Santiago Dutilh (Santiago, Chile/Colegio Everest) each dished out an assist. Senior Eirik Elvestad (Oslo, Norway/Blindern VGS) made two saves to earn the win.

UDC was led by Axel Gamez who scored and by Sergio Becerra who made four saves to take the loss.

The game remained scoreless until the 37th minute when Alvarez Acosta and Duffau found Hanken Tjostheim, who found the back of the net, to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Martin made it 2-0 in the 40th minute after the junior fired home a Schilbred-Eriksen shot that was originally stopped by Becerra. Mercy headed into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

Duffau made it 3-0 in the 54th minute when the sophomore fired home a ball that was flicked on to him by Tjostheim. Hanken Tjostheim later gave the Mavericks a 4-0 lead in the 66th minute with his second goal of the game after a Dutilh assist. Holland finished off the scoring for Mercy in the 68th minute when he found the back of the net, after a pass from Serrano, to make it 5-0.

Gamez ended the shutout in the 79th minute, following a penalty kick goal to make it 5-1. Elvestad made a final save in the 88th minute to keep the score 5-1 and Mercy held on for the 5-1 win.

Mercy held a 22-7 edge in shots and a 9-3 edge in shots on goal. UDC held a 7-4 edge in corner kicks.

Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, October 2nd when they play at Molloy at 7 p.m.