Challenging Schedule Helped Mercy College Men’s Soccer Develop Talent in 2008

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 

Challenging Schedule Helped Mercy College Men's Soccer Develop Talent in 2008

Michael Frimpong-Manso

DOBBS FERRY, NY - The Mercy College men's soccer team took on one of the most challenging schedules in team history in 2008. The results were mixed, but it brought out the great potential in many young Mavericks.

"Although the outcomes weren't what we wanted, we did get huge efforts from many of our underclassmen," Head Coach Nick Bell said.

The Mavericks began their season in the West Chester Tournament in Pennsylvania and took on American International College. Mercy fell behind early, but came back on goals by senior forward Michael Frimpong-Manso (Accra, Ghana) and freshman forward Ben Latchford (Solihull, England) in the second half. The Mavericks took the season opener 2-1 behind freshman goalkeeper Martin Walsh (Dublin, Ireland) who made three saves.

Mercy then matched up against West Chester in an old-fashioned shoot out. Frimpong-Manso scored the only goal of the first half, but eight goals were scored in the second half - six by West Chester as they took the game 6-3. Freshman defender Keith Dillon (Dublin, Ireland) notched his first collegiate goal and Frimpong-Manso, who was named to the All-ECC Second Team, found the back of the net for the second time in the 78th minute.

After dropping games at Bentley and Goldey-Beacom, the Mavericks hosted Lock Haven. The visitors scored first on a penalty kick, but just a minute later freshman midfielder Hugo Bernal (Guadalajara, Mexico) tied the game up off a corner kick from sophomore forward Mike Fernandes (Mt. Vernon, NY). However, Paul Brungard untied the game for Lock Haven in the 63rd minute to give the visitors a 2-1 victory.

Ben Latchford

Bell's squad dropped the next four games to strong non-conference opponents, Dominican, Stonehill, defending Division II national champion Franklin Pierce, and East Coast Conference (ECC) opponent Molloy.

The Mavericks began a stretch of seven ECC games by traveling to Concordia. After the Clippers scored in the 28th minute, sophomore Gianfranco Bastone (Yorktown Heights, NY) tied the game on a shot from 25 yards out to the upper left corner. Neither team could get the ball past the keeper one last time as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Queens College came to town next and blanked the Mavericks on the strength of goalkeeper Ivan Salame's eight saves. Mercy dropped the next four games and saved one of their best performances of the year for ECC leader Dowling College. Both defenses battled throughout the game as Walsh and Dowling goalkeeper Nemanja Veljovic each made several fantastic saves. The Golden Lions cracked the scoreboard in the 74th minute and again in the final minute to scratch out a victory.

Frimpong-Manso led the Mavericks in goals with six and points with 12. Fernandes was second in points with seven and first in assists with five. Walsh made 56 saves in his first collegiate season.

The Mavericks also received strong defensive performances from senior Lucan Bowen (Kingston, Jamaica), sophomores Earl Pommills (Bridgeport, CT) and Merquis Guzman (Bronx, NY), freshmen Odaine Lawson (Montego Bay, Jamaica), Johnny Carroll (Dublin, Ireland) and Dillon.

Mercy will lose Frimpong-Manso, defender Lucan Bowen and forward Omar Bowen (Montego Bay, Jamaica) to graduation, but still have a strong group of returning players.

Bell will be working hard this off-season to ensure that his team is among the top competitors in the ECC in 2009.

"We are now going forward to bring in a strong recruiting class to support the talented student-athletes that are already here," Bell said. "We expect to be more competitive in 2009."