FLUSHING, N.Y. – Opening the week at home the Queens College women's soccer team welcomed the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College to Knights Field in East Coast Conference action.
Led by four different goal scorers the Knights earned a 4-2 victory over the Spartans in ECC play Wednesday evening.
With the win, the Knights improved to 5-6-3 overall and 2-3-1 in ECC play to boost their conference standing for a playoff berth.
Wednesday's win over the Spartans earned the Knights their first victory over their ECC foe for the first time since the 2016 season when they earned a 1-0 victory at home.
Match Recap
Queens wasted no time in attacking as an offside was called in the fourth minute of play to stop an attacking opportunity. Staying on the offense in the 14
th minute of play, junior
Julia Ragone's (Centereach, N.Y.) right foot shot heading to the top right corner would be denied by a timely save from the Spartans goalie but junior
Jacklyn Diel (Stony Brook, N.Y.) would be in the right spot at the right time to put away the rebound shot to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead.
After sophomore
Katelyn Villacres (Bayside, N.Y.) made a timely save to keep her squad in front, Queens on the counterattack in the 21
st minute of play would double their advantage as freshman
Jenna Rosenberger (Smithtown, N.Y.) buried a 19-yard right foot shot into the bottom right corner to put the Knights up 2-0.
The Spartans would threaten to cut into the home side lead but back-to-back saves from Villacres in the 24
th minute of play would keep the Knights 2-0 lead intact.
As Queens continued to mount the pressure on the Spartans' defense, a shot from 30-yards out from junior
Sarah Anderson (East Setauket, N.Y.) would bounce over the Spartans goalie but an offside call would cancel the Knights 3-0 advantage in the 30
th minute of play.
The Spartans would take over for the final five minutes of the first half as they rattled three shots, however with less than a minute to play, a quick corner kick executed by the visitors would see them cut the Knights' advantage down to 2-1 heading into halftime.
The visitors began the second half as the aggressor as they searched for the equalizer but the Villacres and her defense would continue to keep the Knights ahead 2-1.
With both defenses battling, the Knights' offense would continue to keep the pressure on the Spartans.
As the Knights earned back-to-back corner kicks in the 80
th minute of play, Queens would strike as rookie
Cassidy Pong (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) executed a corner kick from the right side for fellow classmate
Anna Tavantzis (Holbrook, N.Y.) to head home a goal into the top right corner for a 3-1 advantage.
Looking to put the game away, a long ball from junior
Gabrielle Christian (Forest Hills, N.Y.) would find Ragone in open space before the Centereach native battled past three defenders to tap in the fourth goal of the match for the Knights as Queens took a 4-1 lead in the 83
rd minute of play.
Despite the Spartans cutting Queens' advantage down to 4-2 in the 85
th minute of play, Villacres and her Knights would play out the final five minutes of play to earn their second ECC victory of the year and boost their conference standing for a postseason spot.
Match Highlights
- The Knights were led by four different goal scorers as Diel, Rosenberger, Tavantzis and Ragone led the way.
- Diel recorded her second goal of the season and eighth of her career in 39 matches.
- Rosenberger and Tavantzis each tallied her first goal of their career.
- Tavantzis notched her first career game-winning goal.
- Ragone recorded a team-high three points on the evening with her team-leading sixth goal and her second assist of the year to extend her points tally to 14.
- The Centereach native has tallied 13 goals and six assists to run her points tally to 32 in 42 matches.
- Ragone's 32 points moves the junior to 15th All-Time in Career Points.
- Pong and Christian recorded their second assist of the year.
- In net, Villacres tied a season-high five saves on the evening to her second victory of the year.
- The Spartans held a 15-11 shots advantage while the Knights held 8-7 shots on goal margin.
- Both teams recorded six corner kicks on the evening.
Next Match
Head coach
Thomas Paris and the Knights conclude the week on the road as they travel to Rockville Centre, N.Y. on Saturday (Oct. 21) afternoon with an ECC matchup against the Lions of Molloy University. 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), X (Formerly Twitter) (@QCKnights), Instagram (qcknightsny), women's soccer (qcwsoccer)
