CALDWELL, N.J. – The Caldwell College men's soccer team played 24th-ranked Mercy College to a 3-3 draw in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon at Caldwell Field. Senior forward Facundo Zalazar (Buenos Aires City, Argentina/San Agustin) notched his second two-goal game in a row for the Cougars, who are now 0-3-1 on the season. The Mavericks remain unbeaten at 5-0-1.

Zalazar put Caldwell on the board in the 14th minute, when he took a long pass from junior forward Kris Olsen-Barr (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.) and put the ball inside the far post for a 1-0 lead. Mercy tied the game on a goal by William Koki in the 28th minute. Just over a minute later, Olsen-Barr knocked in a cross from sophomore midfielder Tim Centineo (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) to put the Cougars back on top. But just before halftime, Koki received a one-touch pass from Ryan Flynn and scored to tie the score again.

Sixteen minutes into the second half, a long throw from sophomore midfielder Yousef Elhusseini (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) was tipped on to Zalazar at the far post. Zalazar beat Mercy goalkeeper Nick Papas for his second goal of the game and fourth of the season. But the lead would not last, as Koki scored his third goal of the game for Mercy in the 78th minute. The teams played two 10-minute overtime periods, with neither team able to find the net.

Freshman goalkeeper Michael Hartmann (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) tallied six saves in a strong performance for Caldwell, while Papas had two saves for the Mavericks. Mercy played the final 32 minutes with 10 players after one of their players received a second yellow card and was ejected.

Caldwell plays at Nyack College on Tuesday, Sept. 18 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match. Kick-off is set for 4:00 p.m. in Nyack, N.Y.

CC – 2 1 0 0 - 3
MC – 2 1 0 0 - 3
Scoring Summary: 1. CC – Facundo Zalazar 3 (Kris Olsen-Barr), 13:16. 2. MC - William Koki 4 (Andrew Levy), 27:17. 3. CC - Olsen-Barr 1 (Tim Centineo), 28:28. 4. MC - Koki 5 (Ryan Flynn, Levy), 43:17. 5. CC - Zalazar 4 (Petrosino, Elhusseini), 61:00. 6. MC - Koki 6 (Ransmond Aboagye, Moustapha Dioum), 77:53.
Shots: CC – 16; MC – 19
Saves: CC – Michael Hartmann 6; MC – Nick Papas 2
Corners: CC - 7; MC - 5
Fouls: CC - 16; MC - 17
Offsides: CC - 2; MC – 3
Cautions: CC – Hughes (35:05), Teitelbaum (43:53), Barros (55:08), Petrosino (70:34); MC - Levy (35:30), Paulino (63:19), Koki (80:33)
Ejections: CC - none; MC - Paulino (78:19 - second yellow)