There have been times the Mercer County College women’s soccer team showed signs of brilliance and there have been other times when it just seemed like nothing was working.
Well, there’s no second chances now as the Vikings are set to take on Essex Community College on Wednesday in the opening round of the Region 19 Tournament.
The match will be played at Mercer and kicks off at 4 p.m.
The other semifinal has Sussex (10-2) taking on Lackawanna (0-8) and the winners meet at the site of the higher seed.
Essex (3-7-1) and Mercer (8-6-4) have met twice this season, with the Vikings winning one and the other game was a tie.
“Essex plays very aggressive, very physical, and they’re fast,’’ said Mercer coach Ron Stinson. “We have to disrupt what they’re trying to do when they transition to offense and counter quickly. They have some standout players that we need to mark and make sure they don’t get a free run at our keeper. They’re keeper is also very good and she’s tall, so the long shots aren’t going to work on her. She also takes a lot of their free kicks, so we’re going to try to discourage that as well.’’
Mercer is coming into the game off a pair of losses to Harford (1-2) and Brookdale (1-3) and will be looking to get back on the winning track.
“I think we just need to play our game, stay calm and follow the game plan.’’ Said Stinson. “We’ll probably go with a shorter bench, and play the hot foot, so to speak. We’ve dominated possession in. Both games, but Essex has some tough players and a really strong keeper. We’ve got a strategy for that, and if we follow it on game day, we should be fine.’’
The Vikings have been led by Charlotte Sayer with 13 goals and three assists.
“Charlotte is a transfer that was injured early on in the season and has come back strong,’’ Stinson stated. “She should have more goals, but Region’s 19 and 20 have some really good goalkeeper’s this year and denied at least seven shots she had that were upper 90. She plays so hard in games and gets people into it when she chooses to lead like that. Essex is going to have to pay attention to her and hopefully that will open the kings up for other players, or we can create a mismatch or an overload to get her scoring opportunities.’’
Lucia Minambres has six goals and four assists for Mercer and Ana Pacheco
Has four goals and two assists.
“I really think the captains and some other leaders on the team, that don’t wear the captains band, will step up for us,’’ said Stinson. “They’re such a fun, likable, and talented group of young ladies. The entire coaching staff knows that they have it in them, we just have to see how they come out on Wednesday.’’
