DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 2, 2023) – Powered by a game-high five points from sophomore Johannes Hanken Tjostheim (Aalesund, Norway/Spring Hill College), the Mercy University men's soccer team earned a 3-2 win over The College of Saint Rose in their 2023 home opener on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (1-1) earn their first win of the season, while the Golden Knights (0-1) open their season with a loss. Mercy has now won eight straight home openers dating back to 2015.
Hanken Tjostheim scored his first two goals as a Maverick and added an assist. Senior Carlos Fernandes (Lisbon, Portugal/Spring Hill College) had a game-high three assists and sophomore Mateo Bacigalupo (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Colegio Cardenal Newman) had a goal. Junior Eirik Elvestad (Oslo, Norway/Blindern VGS) made four saves to earn the win in goal.
Saint Rose was led by Hilmar Halldorsson and Valerii Burlacenco who both scored. Leopold Dufaut made four saves to take the loss.
The game remained scoreless until the 14th minute when Fernandes sent a cross from the left side that was touched in front of the net by Hanken Tjostheim over to Bacigalupo who finished to put the Mavericks up 1-0.
Fernandes found Hanken Tjostheim with another cross in the 23rd minute and this time Hanken Tjostheim put it home himself to give the Mavericks a 2-0 lead.
The score remained 2-0 until the 34th minute when Halldorsson connected on a penalty kick after a Mercy foul in the box to make it 2-1. The score remained 2-1 in favor of Mercy at halftime.
The Golden Knights made it 2-2 in the 50th minute on a Burlacenco header from Halldorsson.
Mercy quickly answered in the 53rd minute as Hanken Tjostheim found the lower right corner of the net following a nice ball from Fernandes to give the Mavericks the lead back at 3-2.
The Mavericks held on for the 3-2 win in their home opener.
Mercy held a 14-10 edge in shots and a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. Saint Rose held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, September 6th when they host Adelphi at 3 p.m.
