The American International College men's soccer team is fresh off of its first 2-0 start since 2013, but head coach Luke Perry doesn't want to get too confident yet as the team heads into a road matchup against Mercy College at 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon.
"It's obviously a good little confidence boost for the team, but in all honesty, I've not been completely satisfied with their performance, and I've let the team know that," Perry said. "I think for both games we put on spells where we've played good soccer and played the style we want to play, but there hasn't been the consistent performance for 90 minutes. So despite getting the results, it's important for us to make sure we are focused on actually giving a whole 90-minute performance. That's how we're going about making sure we're not getting complacent."
On Friday, the Yellow Jackets began with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory against Barton College, in which junior forward Sam Jepson scored the winning goal in the 97th minute. Then, on Sunday, AIC cruised by the University of the District of Columbia, winning comfortably by a 5-0 margin.
Freshman forward Nikola Popovich led the way with three goals in those two games, earning him Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week honors. His classmate, forward Steven Hernandez, had a goal and two assists during the weekend.
"It's great to see the new young lads come in and make a name for themselves," Perry said. "It's still early days right now, and I think the biggest test for them is if they want to be great players, then it's important to be consistent and not get wrapped up in the hype that comes with success. I think the great players deal with success and failure the same way, and always want to learn and always want to improve and get better."
AIC has won both of its matchups against Mercy over the past two years. In 2015, then-freshman midfielder Alejandro Alvarez notched his first career goal in the 103rd minute to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 win in double overtime.In 2014, AIC came away with a 3-1 victory.
To begin the season, the Mavericks have posted a 1-0-1 record with a win over the College of Saint Rose last Thursday and a 2-2 tie against Le Moyne College on Saturday. So far, four different players have each scored a goal. Goalkeeper Kwantarian Van der Lara has seen 200 minutes already this season and allowed three goals in that span.
"They're a very technical team," Perry said about Mercy. "It's going to be our toughest test yet...I think they're going to be a real test for the team today."
