As the second period begins, Mercy leads 1-0 against top seed Molloy and are 45 minutes away from playing in the ECC Championship game on Saturday which the team worked towards all season.
Women’s soccer has waited for this moment to happen and are hungry to complete their mission under the Coach Nicholson era to bring a title back to Dobbs Ferry. From the win streaks, loses, and injuries this team continues to stay together and play with the heart on the field to get the job done.
The ball is dropped on the middle circle as the referee blows the whistle to welcome both teams on the field to begin kickoff. Both teams are set up in the positions to start the period.
“Let’s finish this one out ladies,” said Coach Nicholson
Mercy women’s soccer team was already set to play in the ECC conference tournament, but they had to finish the season out with a win against St. Thomas Aquinas to host the first round at home. This game would also be special since the team honored their seven seniors who have set the standards and brought leadership to the program.
This group has been amazing for Nicholson, who is so proud that he had the opportunity to coach these ladies as an assistant and a few seasons as head coach. Coach praises his senior group who will leave this program in good hands and establish their mark that will succeed for the next years.
“It is easy to see what this group meant and will continue to mean to our program. The standards that they have set for the younger players I have no doubt will remain constant for years to come,” said Nicholson.
Women’s soccer would end up beating STAC on Senior Day, 2-0, and finished fourth in the standings to prepare for the first round on Thursday against fifth-seed Roberts Wesleyan. In the opening round, Mercy started the game out slow with unfortunate mistakes that led to Wesleyan leading the half by one goal. The girls were not playing like themselves which made Nicholson frustrated that the team needed to make technical adjustments if they were going to move on in the tournament.
In the second period, Mercy came out playing aggressively defending the ball against the opponents and looking to find each other to score a goal. Freshman midfielders Ana Polychronides and Alyssa Santiago had the responsibility of defending the anchor possession of the ball to get needed stops for the team. Junior forward Ancksu Dixon was huge in the second period to provide enough energy to turn the game around with two scored goals.
Mercy would end up coming back from down one goal to finish the game with four straight goals in the second period and move on to the semifinals on Sunday. The team continues to remain confident of possibly making the goal of winning the conference championship happen for their program. Nicholson’s halftime speech to his team is the main reason for their comeback and keeping their season alive after a rough start.
“At halftime, we spoke about the need to play the way we know how to; In the first half, we didn’t execute the game plan we wanted to. We made a couple of tactical adjustments at halftime,” said Nicholson.
The women’s soccer team heads to Rockville Centre to take on Molloy in the semifinals with one game away from making the championship game next week. Molloy at 19-7 (ECC 7-0) is the top seed in the conference tournament that has been a problem for Mercy this season by holding them to zero goals the last these teams met. Mercy came in feeling more confident about playing this team for the second time and looking to pull the upset.
Mercy took an early lead from the first half but felt the pressure of the game change in the second as Molloy was locked in on trying to get back into taking the lead after going scoreless in the beginning. The players were becoming tired especially the starters who played most of the minutes in the first round’s comeback. Nicholson did his best to rest the players even though they were already without four key players who suffered injuries throughout the season.
As the buzzer sounded, Mercy disappointingly fell on the road against top seed Molloy 2-1 as their quest to reach the championship remains the same. All the hard work the team has endured throughout the season can only motivate them to do it again next season.
Nicholson believes if the team played more disciplined early, it would have a chance of winning the game.
“After the way we played in the first half, that was the only way they were going to get back into the game, and unfortunately for us, that is not how it panned out,” said Nicholson.
The positives for the Mercy women’s soccer team are how they reached the double-digit mark for games won the season before last year and the ladies were scoring a lot more. This group was surrounded by a lot of characters, and that helped define the team’s identity to how they played.
The team continued to bounce back all season coming off losing streaks and injuries to winning five straight games in the middle of the season to boost their confidence. This group still has unfinished business as they try to win the conference tournament with the returning upperclassman back for next season. The offseason work will focus on the technical aspects of understanding what the players’ roles are and their abilities to find their matches on the field.
The team will also be welcoming in another group of freshmen and possibly a few transfers to the program and allow the returners to spread the system to the newcomers. Nicholson will enter his third season as a coach where he continues to bring the energy on the sidelines and enjoy working with this group. The goal of winning the title remains the same, as hard work and preserverane at the theme of the off-season.
