DOBBS FERRY, NY: Coach Constantino's squad was unable to overcome a two-goal deficit against the Mercy College Mustangs Monday afternoon, as they fell one goal short of forcing extra time in a 3-2 defeat.
The Mustangs opened the scoring just a minute and a half into the game, when Delmara Reece knocked in a pass after a Mercy corner kick to give the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage seemingly in the blink of an eye. The Lady Deacons would answer 16 minutes later, when forward
Christine Rutherford took a pass from
Michelle Cadena on a breakaway and knocked it past Mercy keeper Stephanie DiLegge to even the score at a goal apiece.
But the Mustangs would once again take a one-goal lead in the 39'th minute, when Diane Ralyea scored on a pass from Andrea Nash to give Mercy a 2-1 advantage just before the end of the half. The Lady Deacons had several opportunities to score throughout the half, but saw numerous breakaway attempts go by the boards. Mercy would widen the margin to 3-1 just five minutes into the second frame, when Reece fired a shot that deflected off a Bloomfield defender and snuck past keeper
Adriana Moreno for her second goal of the match.
Freshman forward
Stacey Jones did her best to bring the Lady Deacons back into the game, as she knocked in a pass from
Shawna Reynolds to bring the score to 3-2 in the 56'th minute. But the Mustangs were able to hold on despite several offensive opportunities for the Lady Deacons, as Bloomfield fell to 2-9 on the season.
"This was probably our most disappointing loss of the season," head coach Rocco Constantino said. "Mercy's style played right into our strength. That lead to six first half breakaways but we only converted one. We had chance after chance offensively thanks to strong play from
Laura Nunnery, but our forwards couldn't finish. We'll make some lineup changes for the rest of the season and see if we can find the right combination."
The team returns to action Wednesday, October 7 with a road match against conference foe Felician College. The opening whistle is set for 5:30 PM.