Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College women's soccer team fell 2-0 to #15 Mercy College in non-conference action on Wednesday.

The Dolphins had gone three games without a loss, recording a 0-0 tie at Saint Michael's before beating #25 Franklin Pierce at home followed by a 2-0 road win against New Haven, but in their final non-conference match of the season they came up short on the road against a team that is ranked 15^th in the nation and 2^nd in the East Region behind Saint Rose.

Le Moyne was down 1-0 at half against the Mavericks and created their best scoring chances of the game during the second half while trying to equalize. Mercy doubled their lead with just under 30 minutes to play and they were able to hold the Dolphins scoreless for the full 90 minutes.

"Not the result that we wanted to get out of today's game, however I'm very proud of the group. They left everything on the field, competing from the first to the last play on the road against a very good Mercy College team. While down 1-0 the team put itself in positions to tie the game up, and (Mercy's) second goal was a result of pushing numbers up the field to try and tie the game. Now it's time to focus completely on a very important conference game this Saturday against Southern Connecticut State," said Le Moyne Interim Head Coach Jaro Zawislan after the game.

With just over 18 minutes left to play in the first half, the ball was played forward to Jessica Hoyt, who was approaching Le Moyne's 18-yard box on the left wing. Hoyt hit the ball in the air to her right where Kayla Camacho brought the ball down at the edge of the left side of the six-yard box. Camacho took a shot with her left foot, but Marissa Lisikatos (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) tracked her run and blocked the shot out of bounds for a corner kick.

On the ensuing corner Madison Rosa hit her cross in the air from the left corner flag towards the far post. Camacho attacked the ball and headed it straight into the ground. Le Moyne goalkeeper Allison Moreau (Sauquoit, N.Y./Sauquoit Valley) was able to back up a step, block the shot and grab the ball, but the sideline referee raised his flag to indicate that the ball had crossed the goal line, then the official in the middle pointed to midfield declaring the goal scored. The Dolphins protested, claiming the ball never crossed the goal line, but to no avail as the Mavericks went up 1-0.

In the 33^rd minute Mercy midfielder Claudia McKail got in behind the Le Moyne defense and was on a breakaway towards goal. McKail entered the middle-left portion of the box then took a shot with her left foot aimed towards the right side of the goal.

Moreau dove to her left and got her hand on the shot to make the save, but Camacho got the ball on the rebound right in front of the right side of the net. Camacho got a shot off but Le Moyne center back Katelyn Courcy (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) blocked it with her body, and finally Moreau was able to grab the ball and end the threat.

In the 56^th minute the Dolphins had the ball in their attacking third, and freshman left back Jadyn Kantak (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) hit it in the air towards the left side of the Mercy penalty area.

The ball was headed by a Mercy player away from the crowd to the center of the field then headed again by another Mercy defender. Lisikatos ran onto the ball and carried it towards her right. From just inside the right side of the penalty area Lisikatos took a shot with her right foot that flew towards goal with pace and struck the middle of the crossbar before bouncing back into the field of play. A Mercy player was able to then clear the ball away from danger.

Less than three minutes later Mercy was holding possession and nearly everyone on the field was inside Le Moyne's half. A Mavericks defender took a heavy touch near midfield then slipped as Rylee Alston (Endwell, N.Y./Maine-Endwell) stepped up to make a tackle.

Le Moyne won possession in their own half then Avery Maxam (Clinton, N.Y./Clinton) sent a pass across midfield for Brooke Wilson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton). The Dolphins were on a break as Wilson began dribbling with pace up the center of the field, but the Mercy defender fouled her from behind, giving the Dolphins a free kick opportunity.

As she has done countless times this season, sophomore defender Hildur Unnarsdóttir (Kópavogur, Iceland/Commercial College of Iceland) delivered a dangerous ball into the opponent's penalty area off a set piece that led to a quality scoring chance for the Dolphins. This time she sent her pass in the air towards the edge of the six-yard box. The ball from Unnarsdóttir was weighted perfectly in the path of senior defender Reagan Sames (Rexford, N.Y./Shenendehowa), who got free in the box and placed her header well towards the lower left side of the net, but Mercy goalkeeper Kamy Anaya dove to her right and caught the shot. It was not an easy save for Anaya to make and she did very well to not give up a rebound opportunity as Le Moyne midfielder Alva Larsson (Malung, Sweden/Lugnetgymnasiet) was the closest player to her.

With 30 minutes remaining in the game the Mavericks had possession and Jennifer Silva got the ball near midfield. The junior midfielder sent a pass high in the air over the head of the Le Moyne defense in the path of teammate Emma Best. Best tracked the ball down at the top of the box and her first touch was a volley off a short bounce with her right foot that flew by the oncoming Moreau and bounced into the right side of the net to double Mercy's lead.

Moreau finished the game with five saves in goal for the Dolphins. Le Moyne, who has been very proficient at creating scoring chances from the corner flags, did not take a single corner kick during the 90 minutes.

The Le Moyne College women's soccer team has five games left on their regular season schedule, and they are all Northeast-10 Conference games.

Their next game will be at home on Ted Grant Field against Southern Connecticut State University.

SCSU currently sits at 4^th place in the NE10 standings with 11 points. The Dolphins will have a chance to earn a big conference victory and build on the seven points that they earned in their previous three NE10 battles.

Kick off for Saturday's match on Ted Grant Field between the Dolphins and the Owls is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The game will be preceded by a men's soccer Northeast-10 contest between Le Moyne and University of New Haven which will kick off at 12:00 p.m. on Ted Grant Field.