No. 2 Men's Soccer Advances to ECC Championship With 7-1 Victory Over Mercy

11/2/2012 4:43:00 PM

Box Score BROOKHAVEN, N.Y. (November 2, 2012) – Top-seeded and second-ranked LIU Post men's soccer team advanced to Sunday's East Coast Conference final by virtue of a 7-1 victory over fourth-seeded Mercy College in semifinal action on Friday afternoon. 
 
The Pioneers, with a record of 17-1-0, tie the program record from wins in a season, set just last year.  Mercy ends its season at 10-5-3. 
 
After 20 minutes of scoreless play to open the game, the scoring action got started with Mercy's William Koki in the 24th minute, as he controlled the ball at just past the 30, dribbled through the defense, at lined a hard shot into the upper shelf for a 1-0 lead.
 
It took the Pioneers only ten minutes to respond with the equalizer, as a Mercy foul committed ten yards past midfield gave the home team a free kick.  Junior back Eirik Bjoernoe (Randaberg, Norway) sent a good ball into the box, finding freshman Alex Billington (Preston, England) who finished with a header at 33:23 to tie it at one apiece.
 
The Pioneers captured the lead three minutes later as junior Jonathan Watkin (Doncaster, England) controlled a pass from Andreas Olson (Oppeid, Norway) and positioned a 15-yard shot into the left corner.
 
Coming out of the halftime break with a 2-1 lead, the Pioneers blew the game open with three goals in just three minutes, as Watkin scored his second of the day and junior Cemil Turan (Staten Island, N.Y.) and freshman Per Forgaard (Stavanger, Norway) both notched a score.
Freshman Matias Ruiz (Southampton, N.Y.) tacked on a goal with 17 minutes to play as he powered a shot into the top shelf for a 6-1 lead, and sophomore Dusan Gargurevich (Quito, Ecuador) rounded out the scoring with a tally in the 87th minute. 
 
The Pioneers held a 21-9 shot advantage, generating six corners to two for Mercy.  Junior goalkeeper Marco Jorgensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) made two saves in 64 minutes of action, while sophomore Victor Muntean (Westbury, N.Y.) made one save the rest of the way.