LAKEWOOD, N.J. – On Thursday afternoon, the Queens College men's soccer team (8-7 overall) earned their fifth shutout of the season with a goal in each half to defeat the Lions of Georgian Court University (10-4-3 overall) at GCU Track & Field Complex. 
 
Led by senior Erik Hernandez (East Elmhurst, N.Y.) and freshman Leonel Zelaya (Amityville, N.Y.) goals and solid defense, the Knights concluded non-conference action with a 2-0 win over the Lions.
 
How It Happened

• Queens looked to get out of the gate on a strong note but freshman Angel Leon Zavala (Wyandanch, N.Y.) was unable to put his shot failed to threaten Lions goalie Gianluca Cersosimo in the 4^th minute of play.
• The Lions would maintain possession of the ball for the next 10 minutes as they earned two corner kicks. Looking to open the scoring Jonathan Finocchiaro shots would get blocked to keep the game scoreless. 
• Now with Queens' midfielders maintaining a majority of the possession, the Knights wing looked to attack as they earned back-to-back corners. 
• Playing off a quick corner, sophomore Tobias Holtz's (Sachseln, Switzerland)  shot just missed the right corner post.
• After junior goalie Dario Cruz (Guadalajara, México ) put away Finocchiaro shot in the 24^th minute, the Knights went on the counterattack and were quickly awarded as sophomore Nicholas Tagios (East Williston, N.Y.) pushed a through ball for Hernandez to beat Cersosmio on the right side to give the Knights a 1-0 lead after 26 minutes of play. 
• Queens would control the remainder of the first half and looked to double their lead heading into half but sophomore Milton Sionakides (Astoria, N.Y.) shot at 39:45 would be denied by an alert Cersosimo. 
• Up 1-0, the Knights would have to be on their mark as the Lions possessed the number #2 goal scorer in the nation in Louis Silva with 16 goals this season. 
• The home side came out strong  as they tallied the first two shots of the second half but Jay Abraham's shots would remain wide. 
• With the Knights staying on the offense, freshman Daniel Camara (Madrid, Spain) shot off of a set-piece would be denied by Cersosimo. 
• The Lions had their best opportunity of the day as they were awarded a penalty kick in the 53^rd minute and Silva stepped up to the mark to extend his goal tally but his shot would sail wide. 
• Zelaya turned on the jets in the second half as he continued to be a menace to the defense and was finally was awarded his third goal of the season in the 76^th minute. 
• With Tagios pressing the ball up, the East Williston native completed another successful through ball for Zelaya to beat a diving Cersosimo and his defense for a 2-0 lead. 
• Cruz and his defense would deny the Lions any attempt of a comeback for the remainder of regulation and earn their fifth shutout win of the season Thursday afternoon. 

By the Numbers

• The Knights were outshot 14-11 with the Lions holding 5-4 shots on goal advantage.
• Queens won the corner battle with a 5-2 margin. 
• Hernandez scored for the fourth straight game and tallied his second game-winning goal of the season to make it five goals on the season. While Zelaya tallied the third goal of his young career.  
• With two assists on the day, Tagios increased his tally to three on the season.
• With a team-high 19 points on the season, Tagios is now tied with Glen Ried at #10 in the single-season points category. 
• Cruz made four saves on the day to earn his fifth shutout of the season and tie goalie Michael Bolvin's record of five shutouts set in 2018. 

UP NEXT: Queens concludes the season in Amherst, N.Y. as they go up against Daemen College Wildcats (4-11, 2-6 ECC) on Saturday (Nov. 6) at Karrer Field in East Coast Conference action. Kick-off is set for 1:30 
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