Beckley, W. Va. – Despite a game-high five saves from senior Melissa Torres (La Mirada, Calif./La Mirada), the No. 6 seeded Mercy College women's soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 1 seeded The College of Saint Rose in the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday morning at the YMCA Paul Cline Complex.
The Mavericks (12-5-4) see their season come to an end in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year. Mercy advanced to the East Region Final for the first time since 2017. The Golden Knights (16-1-4) advance to the National Quarterfinals and will face the winner of Concord/West Chester on Saturday.
Torres made five saves to earn the loss. Graduate student Nikki Bermudez (Oceanside, N.Y./New York Tech) and sophomore Madison Rosa (Dublin, Calif./Dublin) both had a team-high two shots on goal.
Saint Rose was led by Ciera Lundy, Mia Klammer, and Kaelyn Britt who scored. Marika Laurendeau made four saves to earn the win.
Torres made four saves in the first 34 minutes of action to keep the game scoreless. Rosa forced Laurendeau to make her first save in the 32nd minute.
Saint Rose finally broke through in the 35th minute when Lundy scored off a rebound after a team save and a shot off the post to make it 1-0.
It remained 1-0 until the 41st minute when Britt scored to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead. Saint Rose would head into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
Bermudez and Rosa opened the second half with shots on goal for the Mavericks, but Laurendeau made a pair of saves to keep Saint Rose up 2-0. Torres made her final save in the 62nd minute to keep Mercy within striking distance.
Klammer scored the final Saint Rose goal in the 77th minute to make it 3-0. Bermudez had a great scoring chance in the 82nd minute, but Laurendeau made a diving save to keep Mercy scoreless. Saint Rose would hold on for the 3-0 win, ending Mercy's season in the Sweet 16.
Saint Rose held a 16-7 edge in shots and Mercy held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
Provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.
