Brookville, N.Y. – Powered by the game-winning goal in the 42nd minute from redshirt freshman Ryan Sipavicius(Flushing, N.Y./Holy Cross), the No. 3 seeded Mercy College men's soccer team earned their first NCAA Tournament win since 1989 with a 1-0 victory over No. 6 seeded Post University in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship on Thursday afternoon at Pioneer Soccer Park.
The Mavericks (13-3-1) match their win total from last year and will take on No. 2 seed LIU Post on Saturday, November 10th at 1 p.m. at LIU Post in the Second Round. The Eagles (12-8-1) see their season come to an end. The shutout is Mercy's first since a September 15th win over St. Thomas Aquinas.
Sipavicius netted his second goal of the year and junior Gaston Rozenblum (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Escuelas Tecnicas ORT) and sophomore Francisco Ricci (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Warner University) dished out assists. Sophomore Jordan Williams (Newton, N.J./North Carolina Wesleyan College) made four saves to post the shutout win.
Post was led by Sergio Diaz who had a team-high two shots on goal. Fredrik Pedersen made five saves to take the loss.
Williams made the first save of the game in the 7th minute, but the Mavericks answered with shots on goal in the 9th and 18th minutes that were stopped by Pedersen to keep the game scoreless.
After the teams traded shots on goal later in the half, Mercy finally got on the board in the 42nd minute when Sipavicius tapped home a ball that was crossed from right of the net by Rozenblum and Ricci to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
The second half saw the Eagles maintain possession of the ball in the Mavericks end of the field for most of the half, but were unable to score as Williams made two saves in the half to preserve the win and shutout.
Mercy held an 8-4 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.
Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, November 10th when they play No. 2 LIU Post at 1 p.m. in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.
