It was a stormy week for Mercy Athletics. The Mavericks saw three of their programs conclude their seasons with heartbreaking losses, leaving every last ounce they had on those fields. But even through the tempest, understand, it doesn’t rain forever. It’s time to dust ourselves off and keep moving forward because that is what we do around here.
Welcome to The Roundup.
As both soccer teams and field hockey begin the offseason, Mercy volleyball is ECC tournament-bound for a fourth straight year. We may be down, but we certainly aren’t out.
Heartbreak at Mercy Field
It was a tough pill to swallow for the men’s soccer team on Saturday. The No. 2 seed Mavericks hosted No. 3 Queens in a semifinal match for the ages. The game featured three lead changes, seven total goals scored, and a game-winning goal with less than 10 seconds in regulation.
Queens drew first blood 30 minutes into the game, taking a 1-0 lead into the half. Mercy quickly responded out of the intermission, scoring three straight goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half to take a commanding two goal lead. As expected though, Queens hung around, burying two in the back in the net to tie the game at 3-3.
For the final 20 minutes of regulation, it increasingly became more evident that the stalemate was going to conclude on the next goal scored. What looked like a game that had eyes for an overtime period, the Knights had other ideas. Queens buried a long shot past Eirik Elvestad with a mere eight seconds in the game for the winning goal, advancing to their first ECC Championship game in program history.
The bitter ending shouldn’t be what’s remembered from this sweet-tasting season. The Mavs were one of the conference’s best all year long, naming eight players to the All Conference teams while receiving two player of the year awards. Not every season ends with the trophy, and that’s okay. It’s not easy to win in the ECC. With a ton of returning production, this team will be back with vengeance come 2024.
Women’s Soccer comes up just short
Year one for Mercy head coach Jack Nicholson is in the books. The women’s soccer team had an impressive 3-0 win over D’Youville in the first round, blanking their opponent on the scoreboard for the fourth straight game. The Mavs had all the steam behind them heading into their semifinal rematch with Daeman.
The team took the trip upstate to face the Wildcats after defeating them in the regular season finale, but lost a close one, 2-0. Daeman earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament after going unbeaten for 11 games before the Mavericks finally knocked them off. This is a really good team that Mercy faced and the Wildcats deserve a lot of credit.
To look at the glass half-full, Mercy found a true leader in Jack Nicholson. The first year coach found his groove in October and improved immensely each game. Every great coach has to find their identity, Nicholson surely found his, and now he’ll get to enter the offseason with the wealth of knowledge he learned in year one and an opportunity to pick up right where he left off.
Mercy won’t forget this feeling. It’ll be a few months before the scars from the loss heal, but the best programs don’t dwell for long. Another strong recruiting class paired with their talent that’s coming back should have the Mavs right back in the championship mix next season.
What a year for Field Hockey
The historic run for Mercy field hockey came to an unfortunate end on Tuesday. After being picked to finish 11th in the preseason poll, the Mavs threw it right back in the conference’s face. The team got scorching hot at the end of the season and plunged into their first postseason appearance ever.
Mercy traveled to St. Anselm for the first round of the NE10 tournament, dropping a 4-1 contest. The Hawks were the eventual tournament champions after defeating top-seeded Assumption in the title game, putting a feather in the cap of this team who played them hard till the very end.
Marissa Spinazzola has helped bring the program to new heights in just three years. The head coach was a player on Mercy’s ECC Championship team in 2018, and five years later she is already Mercy’s all-time winningest coach. The decision by Matt Kilkullen to hire from within before the 2021 season has paid dividends in a short period of time. Spinazzola is well on her way.
The focus this offseason shifts to their roster retention. Out of Mercy’s 16 players on the roster this year, nine were seniors. The team had a richness of experience all over the field, but will now be tasked with replacing that output if some of them elect not to use their extra year of eligibility.
If Spinazzola can retain her senior firepower for one more season, this squad can very well find themselves back in the playoffs next year.
Volleyball has more left in the tank
The last fall team standing still has championship aspirations to chase. Mercy volleyball has rattled off three victories in a row after their four game skid. The win streak helped Mercy clinch their fourth consecutive ECC tournament appearance with two games left on their schedule.
Mercy exited the week with two wins coming against St. Rose and Roberts Wesleyan. The Mavs traveled up to Albany to secure a 3-0 win over the Golden Knights, a team they hadn’t beaten since 2004. The victory was powered by 12 kills from Anyelainy Vizcaino who now has 10+ in each of her last three games, and another brilliant performance from Yarianne Gonzalez with 28 assists.
A struggling Redhawks team was next on the menu for Mercy. The Mavericks welcomed them to Victory Hall yesterday afternoon and came away with a 3-1 win, their eighth straight against Roberts. Larissa Schneid got back in the mix with a game-high 16 kills off the hands of rookie Alanis Calderon who tossed a career-high 38 assists. Gonzalez got the start but was relieved after the first set by the freshman. Todorovic may have been resting her star captain as the team enters the home stretch.
The Mavs will face AIC on Thursday night and then close up their regular season against last place St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday. Before the team can worry about postseason play, they have to take care of what’s in front of them first. Mercy has been defeated in the ECC semifinals the last three seasons and will likely meet with powerhouse No. 1 seed Daeman again. The team is going to need all the momentum they can get going in, making these last two games must wins.
