Men’s and women’s soccer are back in the ECC Tournament, Rachel Palladino is Mercy’s all-time leading scorer, and a four game win streak has field hockey eyeing the program’s first playoff berth. Welcome to this week’s edition of The Roundup.
The difference between winning and losing at the end of October all comes down to attention to detail. The lineups are set, the plays have been put in, and now it’s time to execute. With just a handful of games left in the fall regular season, the room for error is marginal, and these teams know it.
The Mavs had a respectable week on the field and will look to keep building momentum as the regular season comes to a close. Let’s jump into how these teams fared this week.
Two’s a fluke, but Four’s a streak
The hottest team on campus continued rolling past the competition this week, winning both of their contests, stretching their win streak to a season-high four games. A playoff picture that looked far gone two weeks ago is now in arm’s length away. It’s absolutely remarkable what these ladies are doing.
Mercy battled St. Thomas Aquinas in an overtime slugfest on Wednesday, storming back from a lopsided 4-1 deficit in the second half. Kate Ringstad scored her first hat trick of the season including the game winner, and Rachel Palladino notched a pair of goals of her own. Palladino rewrote the Mercy history books, becoming the program’s single season goals leader with her 11th of the year. Palladino’s final two goals of regulation sent the Mavs to overtime; Talk about quality timing.
Marissa Spinazzola and the team then welcomed Franklin Pierce this past Saturday, securing their second win on the week and their fourth in a row. Though the mountain wasn’t nearly as steep, the Mavs found themselves trailing early in the game, 1-0. The Ravens drew first blood ten minutes into the game, but Ringstad responded with the equalizer just two minutes later. A pair of goals later in the contest from Rachel Palladino and Kelly Rosenfeld closed out the victory.
It’s the fourth straight game the team has scored multiple goals, and if they’re going to continue to ride this wave, the offense needs to stay dialed in.
The last two regular season games for Mercy is tomorrow against powerhouse St. Anselm and Southern Connecticut State on Friday. You are going to want to monitor this closely.
Men’s Soccer seeking No. 1 seed
The race for the top seed in the ECC Tournament hasn’t concluded, but as of now it appears Mercy will enter the postseason with the No. 2 seed behind St. Thomas Aquinas. The Spartans hold a 6-0-1 conference record with their lone tie coming against the Mavs earlier this month, sitting two games above Mercy in the standings.
By the looks of the team, they couldn’t appear less bothered by it. That’s a true sign of a winning culture. This squad has a “been there, done that” energy to them, and the confidence can very well lead this team to back to back titles.
But before they can worry about that, they have to focus on finishing strong.
The men’s team picked up a convincing win to kickoff the week against Dominican on Tuesday, 5-1. Antonio Sas ignited the Mercy scoring, burying the first goal of the game to give the Mavs a 1-0 lead. The Chargers responded with a goal to even the score, but it was all Mercy afterwards. The Mavericks scored four straight goals off the legs of Johannes Hanken Tjosteim, Luis Silva, Phillimon Bedard-Khalid, and Antonio Sas’ second of the game.
Mercy collided with UDC to end the week on Saturday, walking away with a 1-1 draw. The Mavs trailed by a goal for the majority of the first half, until Jorgen Krohn-Petterson knotted it up at 1-1 with his second goal of the season.
Eirik Elvestad has also now held his last three opponents to one goal or less, heating up just when this team needs him most. The junior was exceptional this time last year, posting three shutouts in his last four regular season games. Let’s see if Elvestad still has some magic in his hat.
The team will travel to New Haven tomorrow for a match under the lights and then host Daeman on Saturday for Senior Day before postseason play begins.
No time for panic
It wasn’t an ideal road trip for Ana Todorovic and her volleyball team. Mercy currently rides a three game skid after dropping contests to Bentley, Daeman, and D’Youville this week. The Mavs traveled to play a talented Bentley team this past Tuesday and lost, 0-3. Yarianne Gonzalez didn’t see action, but freshman Alanis Calderon came in for relief and posted a season-high 21 assists.
The team then had back-to-back matches over the weekend, losing to Daeman on Saturday, 1-3, and to D’Youville, 2-3. Gonzalez was reinserted into the lineup for both games, posting 87 kills and 11 digs combined on the weekend. Gonzalez and Larissa Schneid received ECC Honor Roll honors after their performances on the week. Schneid had 39 kills and 44 digs between her three games played, continuing her consecutive dominant year.
Mercy now sits as the No. 4 seed in the ECC with just four conference games left on the schedule to cement their spot in the postseason. Ana Todorovic has the task of reigniting the spark in the team, and looking at her track record elsewhere, she’s poised to turn this ship around.
The Mavericks now get to come home for their next two ECC games, welcoming Molloy to town on Wednesday night and Queens on Sunday afternoon. Time to get back on track.
Touchdown, Mavs !
It was a light show at Mercy Field yesterday. The women’s soccer team erupted for six goals in a shutout victory against Lincoln, responding from their 3-1 loss to Wilmington three days prior. Amiah Washington and Ancksu Dixon both found the back of the net twice, and Elizabeth Bowles and freshman Angelina Ortiz contributed with a goal each.
Kamy Anaya has now blanked her last two ECC opponents and is playing some of her best soccer as of late. Mercy needs their goaltender to stay hot this week in their final two regular season games, including the season finale against current No. 2 seed Daeman Wildcats.
The Mavs hold the No. 3 seed currently with a 4-1-2 record against ECC competition. Daeman is 5-0-1 in conference play, so a head-to-head victory over the Wildcats could possibly be the difference between hosting the first round contest or playing on the road.
Not only must the players level up going into the playoffs, but coaching must as well. This is Jack Nicholson’s first postseason at the helm of the program and will be given the task of keeping his team locked in through the added pressure.
Mercy wraps up the regular season at home against Holy Family on Wednesday and Daeman on Saturday. Hold on tight.
