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 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 were already set to play in the ECC conference tournament, but they had to finish the season out with a win against St. Thomas Aquinas in order 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 Coach Nicholson who is so proud that he had the opportunity to coach these ladies as an assistant and 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 Coach 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 move in the tournament.
In the second period, Mercy came out playing aggressive with 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 possible 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 too. We made a couple of tactical adjustments at halftime,” said Coach Nicholson.
Women’s soccer team heads to Rockville Centre, NY 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 have 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 with an early lead from the first half 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 begins to ring, Mercy disappointingly falls on the road against top seed Molloy 2-1 as their quest to reach the championship still remains the same. All the hard work the team has endured throughout the season can never be repaired but motivates them to do it again next season.
Nicholson believes if the team was more disciplined in the beginning of the game and did not get tired, they 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 how it panned out,” said Coach Nicholson.
The positives for the Mercy women’s soccer team are how they reached the double-digit mark for games won the season prior to last year and the girls were scoring the ball a lot more. This group was surrounded a lot of character that help define the team’s identity to how they play.
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 boast their confidence. This group still has unfinish 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 abilities of finding their matches on the field.
The team will also be welcoming in another group of freshmen and possible a few transfers to the program and allow the returners to spread the system into 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 is allows going to be about this program who will bring a championship to the Mercy community soon.
