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Sports

Our Lady of Mercy Soccer Defeats St. Dominic, 6-0

In their conference opener, Mercy reminds everyone why they were conference champs last year.

In their first league game since winning the Class A championship, looked like they didn’t skip a beat or graduate 11 seniors. Mercy controlled the ball for the majority of the game, which lead to more shots.

Shannon Brady had a very productive day for the Mustangs. She scored two goals and was credited with a third, earning her first hat trick of the season.

Seniors Marisa Allen and Stefanie Pia had their hands in every goal. Both finished the day with three assists apiece.

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Short and precise passes worked for the Mustangs. With the exception of the necessary clears, the team kept their composure and moved the ball up the field. The ball movement was made easy by the early and frequent communication between the girls on the field.

“We were saying yesterday, you have to play quick, but don’t hurry,” said Mercy’s coach Dick Hogan.

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Hero: In a game like this one, many things seemed to click for Mercy. Senior Caitlyn Macchio controlled the defense and really made it easy for senior goalie Madison Fressle. Sophomore Shannon Brady also played a big role in the victory.

Turning Point: With just over two minutes left in the first half, Mercy was up 1-0 and had the ball in the corner. With the corner kick in the air, Brady went up for the header, but it was reflected by a St. Dominic defender and actually found its way into the back of the net.

St. Dom’s found themselves down 2-0 and couldn’t turn it around in the second half.

Quotable: “We always try to play a balanced team,” said Hogan. “Ten field players will beat a team with one star.” For the Mustangs, Brady, Macchio, M. Allen and Pia all gave Hogan the productivity he was looking for in their first conference game of the 2011 season.

Bottom line: Mercy may have started off their season on a good note, but they can’t bask in the glory of their win for too long. On Friday, they are playing one of their biggest rivals, Archbishop Molloy. The Mustangs looked good against St. Dominic, but they are going to have to play great against Molloy.

“We have to maintain our composure, strength and shape offensively and defensively,” said Hogan.

Key Stat:  Mercy controlled the ball for about three-fourths of the game, not allowing St. Dominic to get into an offensive rhythm. Normally, the amount of shots taken does not indicate who has the upper hand, but today Mercy’s aggressive offense and defense limited the Bayhawks to only 10 shots, while Mercy shot 26 times.

Who’s next: Mercy @ Archbishop Molloy, Friday at 4 p.m.

Teams…………………………1…...2

Our Lady of Mercy………..2……4

St. Dominic’s……………….0……0

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