DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Despite shots on goal from senior John Hollis (Bradford, England/West Virginia Wesleyan College) and juniors Nicholas Tellez (Port Chester, N.Y./Herkimer County CC) and Joel Martinez (Madrid, Spain/Mount Aloysius College) and a game-high six saves from graduate student Sean Green (Asheville, N.C./Lees-McRae College), the Mercy University Men's Soccer opened their 2026 season with a 1-0 loss to East Stroudsburg University on Thursday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (0-1) drop their season opener for the first time since 2023 and fall to the Warriors (1-0) for the first time since 1999.
Green was forced to make four saves in the first 23 minutes of action to keep the game scoreless. Tellez recorded the Mavericks' first shot on goal in the 13th minute that was stopped by Phil Sykes.
Green stopped another shot in the 34th minute and the teams headed into halftime scoreless.
Martinez recorded the first shot on goal of the second half in the 46th minute that was stopped by Sykes. Green made his final save of the game in the 49th minute and Hollis had a shot stopped by Sykes in the 52nd minute. Martinez had a shot hit the right post in the 64th minute keeping the game scoreless.
East Stroudsburg capitalized on a turnover in the Mercy backend with Jeter Cardona scoring on an open net in the 85th minute to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. East Stroudsburg held on for the 1-0 win.
Mercy was led by Green who made a game-high six saves to take the loss. Tellez, Martinez, and Hollis recorded one shot on goal.
East Stroudsburg was led by Cardona who scored the game-winning goal and by Sykes who made three saves to earn the shutout win.
East Stroudsburg held an 11-10 edge in shots, a 7-3 edge in shots on goal, and corner kicks were tied at 4-4.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, August 30th when they host Monroe at 3:30 p.m.
