DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (July 18, 2025) – For the 10th year, Mercy University Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2024-25 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy University Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next three weeks culminating with the top moment from the 2024-25 athletic year being unveiled on Friday, August 1st.
No. 7 – Softball Records Most Wins Since 2019 and Wins First ECC Championship Game Since 2021
Coming in at No. 7 in our 2024-25 Top-10 Moments is softball who recorded their most wins since 2019 and won their first ECC Championship game since 2021.
Mercy entered the 2025 season picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 14-28 in 2024. The preseason ranking was the highest for the Mavericks since 2018.
The Mavericks opened the 2025 season on March 1st with 4-2 and 4-0 wins over Bloomfield. Senior Skylar Brandemarte pitched a complete game to earn the win in game one in her Mercy debut and junior Mackayla Secoda tossed a complete game shutout in game two to give the Mavericks the sweep. Mercy started 2-0 for the first time since 2018 and swept the Bears for the first time since 2023. Following the season-opening sweep, Secoda was named ECC Pitcher of the Week, freshman Alexis Lemus was tabbed Player and Rookie of the Week and Brandemarte and freshman Keira Jantz were named to the Honor Roll.
Head Coach Jaime Lorenzo and the Mavericks headed down to Florida where they opened the trip on March 7th with narrow losses to Southern New Hampshire and Holy Family to fall to 2-2 on the year. On March 8th, Mercy dropped a 10-1 decision to Gannon in game one before earning a 9-4 win over Cedarville in the second game of the day. Senior Madilyn Lula and sophomore Averi Miller both had a game-high-tying two RBI in the win. After the week was over, freshman Lauren McSweeney was named ECC Rookie of the Week and graduate student Mia Harris, Lula, Brandemarte and freshman Mikaela Mammola were tabbed to the Honor Roll.
Mercy continued their Florida trip on March 10th when they earned a 7-1 win over New Haven before earning a 14-6 victory over Bloomfield. Miller had a game-high four RBI in game one and sophomore Allison Murphy had a game-high four RBI in game two as Mercy improved to 5-3 on the year. The Mavericks were off to their best start since 2021. Mercy concluded their Florida trip on March 11th with a 4-2 loss to West Chester and a 6-4 setback to Thomas More.
Lorenzo and the Mavericks returned to New York and played at Adelphi on March 16th, dropping 3-2 and 4-0 decisions to the 2024 NCAA Tournament participants, falling to 5-7 on the year. Brandemarte, Miller and McSweeney were tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll on March 17th.
Mercy began ECC play on March 19th with their home opener against Staten Island. McSweeney tossed a complete game shutout in game one and Harris had a team-high four hits and two RBI as the Mavericks earned 3-0 and 4-2 wins over the Dolphins. Mercy started ECC play 2-0 for the first time since 2021. The Mavericks ended the week with a split against American International on March 22nd. Freshmen Jessica Fox and Talia Salanto each had a game-high two RBI and Secoda pitched a complete game in the 7-1 game two win. McSweeney was named ECC Co-Rookie of the Week and Harris, Murphy, and Secoda were tabbed to the Honor Roll on March 24th.
The Mavericks sat at 8-8 on the year when they played at defending ECC Champions St. Thomas Aquinas on March 25th. Senior Victoria Seppala and Lula homered in game two as the Mavericks earned an 8-3 win in game two to earn a split, defeating the Spartans for the first time since 2023. Mercy moved back over .500 on the year on March 27th when they swept New Haven by scores of 9-1 and 6-0. Murphy had a team-high seven hits on the day and Secoda and Brandemarte earned complete game wins as Mercy moved to 11-9 on the year. The Mavericks capped off the week with 15-7 and 6-0 losses at D'Youville on March 29th. Brandemarte and Murphy were named to the ECC Honor Roll on March 31st.
Lorenzo and the Mavericks opened the month of April with a pair of close losses to eventual East Region Champion Pace on April 2nd to fall to 11-13 on the year. Brandemarte and Secoda were named to the ECC Honor Roll again on April 7th.
Mercy was back in action on April 9th when they earned a split against Felician. Harris had a game-high three RBI and Brandemarte earned the complete game win in game two as the Mavericks moved to 12-14 on the year. On April 10th, the Mavericks earned another split, coming against Dominican at Smith Field. Brandemarte tossed a complete game shutout, and Fox had the go-ahead RBI in game two as Mercy improved to 13-15. Brandemarte and Murphy were named to the ECC Honor Roll on April 14th.
The Mavericks dropped a pair of ECC games to St. Thomas Aquinas on April 15th, falling to 13-17 overall and 3-5 in ECC play. Mercy got back into the win column on April 17th when they earned a 3-1 game one win over Queens before falling 5-3 in the nightcap. Seppala had a game-high two RBI and Brandemarte tossed another complete game in the game one win. Mercy ended the week with a sweep of D'Youville on April 19th, earning 7-1 and 4-0 wins over the Saints. Five different Mavericks recorded an RBI on the day and Brandemarte and McSweeney earned wins as Mercy moved to 16-18 overall and 6-6 in ECC play. The Mavericks surpassed their win total from 2024 and now had their most wins in a season since 2021. Brandemarte also recorded her 300th career strikeout in the game one win. McSweeney was named ECC Rookie of the Week and Brandemarte, Miller and sophomore Dylan Reyer were tabbed to the Honor Roll on April 21st.
Lorenzo and the Mavericks made it four wins in a row when they swept Molloy on April 21st by scores of 2-0 and 4-3 at Smith Field. Brandemarte tossed a complete game shutout in game one and Lula hit a two-run home run in game two as Mercy improved to 18-18 overall and 8-6 in ECC play. The Mavericks won four games in a row for the first time since 2021 and now had their most wins in a season since 2019. Mercy also swept Molloy for the first time since 2021. Secoda recorded her 100th career strikeout in the game two win.
Mercy secured their fifth straight ECC Championship berth on April 22nd when they extended their winning streak to six games with 7-6 and 8-4 wins over Staten Island. Harris and Seppala had a team-high four RBI on the day. Mercy sat at 20-18 overall and 10-6 in ECC play. The Mavericks won six games in a row for the first time since 2018 and swept the season series against the Dolphins for the first time. Mercy also had their most ECC wins since 2023. The Mavericks continued their winning ways, extending their winning streak to eight games with a sweep at Molloy by scores of 5-0 and 6-3. Brandemarte tossed a one-hitter in game one and Jantz hit a two-run go-ahead home run in game two. Mercy had their first eight-game winning streak since 2018 and swept the season series against Molloy for the first time in program history. Mercy sat at 22-18 overall and 12-6 in ECC play, recording their most ECC wins since 2021. The Mavericks locked up the No. 2 seed in the following week's ECC Championship.
The Mavericks ended the regular season with 2-0 and 7-2 losses to Queens on Senior Day on April 27th. In a ceremony prior to the game, Mercy honored Seppala, Lula, Brandemarte, and Kimberlee Childs. The Mavericks ended the regular season 22-20 overall and 12-8 in ECC play. Murphy was named ECC Player of the Week on April 28th, Brandemarte was named Pitcher of the Week and Reyer and Seppala were tabbed to the Honor Roll.
Prior to the start of the ECC Championship, the All-Conference teams were announced on May 1st. Brandemarte was named ECC Co-Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-ECC and Murphy and Reyer were tabbed Second Team All-ECC.
Mercy started play in the ECC Championship on May 1st, facing No. 3 seed Molloy at St. Thomas Aquinas. Salanto recorded a walk-off RBI single, and Murphy had a game-high three RBI as Mercy earned a 4-3 win over Molloy. Brandemarte tossed a complete game to earn the win.
Mercy took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a Murphy leadoff home run to left center.
The Mavericks scored two runs in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead. Fox singled and Lula walked before Reyer sacrificed the runners over to second and third. Murphy then singled to right center, scoring Fox and Lula to give Mercy a 3-0 lead.
Molloy scored a run in the third inning and two runs in the fifth inning to tie the game at 3-3.
The game remained tied at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh. Murphy singled to lead off the game and advanced to second after a Harris sacrifice. Seppala walked before Salanto singled to left field, scoring Murphy, to give Mercy the 4-3 walk-off win.
Mercy won their first ECC Championship game since 2021 and advanced to play top seed St. Thomas Aquinas on May 2nd. The Mavericks moved to 23-20 on the year and moved to 5-0 against Molloy in 2025.
The Mavericks opened the second day of the ECC Championship with a 7-3 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas, despite a game-high three RBI from Murphy. Mercy faced an elimination game against D'Youville later in the day. The score was tied at 3-3 heading to the seventh inning when the Saints scored seven runs to take a 10-3 lead. D'Youville held on for the win, ending the Mavericks season. Mercy ended the season 23-22, winning their first ECC Championship game since 2021. The Mavericks won their most games since 2019 and their most ECC games since 2021. Mercy finished with their first winning record since 2021.
Brandemarte added to her already impressive season by being named NFCA Second Team All-Region and D2CCA First Team All-Region. In her lone season as a Maverick, Brandemarte went 13-9, leading the ECC in ERA (1.91) and finished with 90 strikeouts in 153.2 innings.
The team also excelled in the classroom with Brandemarte, Harris, Secoda, Reyer and Miller being named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. The team also posted a 3.57 GPA throughout the 2024-25 academic year.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2024-25 Season
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next four weeks, the Mercy University Athletic Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Friday, July 11th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Friday, August 1st.
No. 1 – August 1st
No. 2 – July 30th
No. 3 – July 28th
No. 4 – July 25th
No. 5 – July 23rd
No. 6 – July 21st
No. 7 – July 18th
No. 8 - Women's Soccer Qualifies for ECC Championship for 11th Straight Season and Advances to Semifinals
No. 9 – Men's Basketball Records Most Wins Since 2019 and Nearly Qualifies for ECC Championship
No. 10 – Field Hockey Gets Off to Best Start in Program History and Nearly Qualifies for NE10 Championship
