FLUSHING, N.Y. – Resuming non-conference action Wednesday evening, the Queens College men's soccer team welcomed the visiting Griffins of Seton Hill University to QC Soccer Field.
In a defensive battle that saw a combined 27 fouls and nine yellow cards raised, the Knights fell 1-0 to the Griffins to move 8-5 overall on the season.
Playing in wet field conditions as rain in Flushing went back and forth, Queens looked to open the scoring early in the third minute of play, but junior
Leo Pinto (Forest Hills, N.Y.) shot on goal towards the bottom center of the net was denied by the Griffins goalie.
The visitors would press on the opposite end but senior goalie
Dario Giovanni Cruz (Guadalajara, México) would deny back-to-back shots by the Griffins to keep the game scoreless.
After Seton Hill's counterattack was called offside, freshman
Oscar Garces (Centereach, N.Y.) shot on goal was denied in the 28
th minute before junior
Nicholas Tagios's (East Williston, N.Y.) shot went out right in the 29
th minute of play.
It was a battle in the midfield for the remainder of the first half as neither side was able to land a shot on goal to go into halftime deadlocked at 0-0.
The Griffins would maintain possession to start the second half as they outshot the Knights 3-0 in the opening five minutes of play.
After the Knights denied the Griffins on their corner, Pinto and the Knights charged on the counterattack but the Forest Hill native was denied once again by an alert Griffins goalie in the 63
rd minute.
Both defenses would continue to deny the ball in each attacking half for the next 20 minutes before the Griffins tallied back-to-back shots.
Cruz continued to deny the Griffins with a timely save in the 85
th minute before the visitors broke through Queens' defense in the 88
th minute of play to take a 1-0 lead.
With time running out, freshman
Finlay Armond's (Sleaford, England) shot in the 89
th minute was blocked before sophomore
Jose Mendez's (Queens, N.Y.) rebound shot was bottled up by the Griffins goalie as the visitors held on for the late 1-0 win over the Knights.
Match Highlights
- Pinto tallied two shots on goals, while Garces and Mendez tallied a shot on goal apiece.
- In goal, Cruz made six saves on the evening.
- The Knights held a 12-11 shots advantage, while the Griffins tallied 7-4 shots on goal on the night.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Frank Vertullo and his Knights return to East Coast Conference play on Saturday (Oct. 8) afternoon as they welcome the Firebirds of the University of the District of Columbia to Flushing. Kick-off is set for 3:00 p.m.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), Twitter (@QCKnights), and Instagram (qcknightsny), men's soccer (qcmsoccer).
