FLUSHING, N.Y. – Entering Saturday's East Coast Conference match and needing a victory to officially clinch a third-place finish, the Queens College men's soccer team welcomed the Saints of D'Youville University to Flushing.
Led by six different goal scorers and hattricks from senior
Nicholas Tagios (East Williston, N.Y.) and sophomore
David Akpan (Brentwood, N.Y.), the Knights defeated the Saints to the final score of 10-0 Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Knights improved to 8-7-2 overall and 5-3 in ECC play as they clinched a third-place finish.
For the second straight season, head coach Frank Vertullo and the Knights are returning to ECC postseason play. More details to follow.
Match Recap
The Knights wasted no time going on the attack as they recorded five shots in the opening 10 minutes of play.
In the 15
th minute of play, Queens would take a 1-0 lead as senior
Adolfo Martinez Paquet (Sevilla, Spain) delivered a cross for Tagios to flick home the opening goal of the game for a 1-0 lead.
After earning a free kick from 18 yards out in the 18
th minute of play, senior
Juan Monge Allue (Zaragoza, Spain) would deliver with a goal into the bottom right corner to give Queens a 2-0 lead.
Just 40 seconds later, the Knights would triple their advantage as red-shirt sophomore
Jose Mendez (Queens, N.Y.) and sophomore
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) combined for Tagios to complete a first-half brace as Queens took a 3-0 lead.
As the Knights continued to maintain possession of the ball, Queens would take a 4-0 lead into halftime as sophomore
Arvin Pereira (Westbury, N.Y.) completed a pass from Cooke and sophomore
David Oprea (Oslo, Norway) in the 34
th minute of play.
The Knights would add six more goals in the second half as Oprea, freshman
Tommy Wagner (East Northport, N.Y.), Akpan, and Tagios recorded goals to earn a 10-0 victory.
Prior to the match, Vertullo and the men's soccer program honored their graduating seniors for their dedication to Queens College and the men's soccer program in
Austin Matthews (Chico, CA), Michael Vogel (Burgkirchen, Germany),
Daniel Camara (Madrid, Spain),
Leo Pinto (Forest Hills, N.Y.),
Juan Monge Allue (Zaragoza, Spain), Nicholas Tagios (East Williston, N.Y.), Adolfo Martinez Paquet (Sevilla, Spain) and
Tobias Holtz (Sachseln, Switzerland) in their annual Senior Day Ceremony.
Match Highlights
- Tagios led the offense with a team-high eight points to record his second career hattrick to go with two assists.
- Akpan recorded his career hattrick, while Allue, Oprea, Pereira, and Wagner each tallied goals.
- Cooke recorded a hattrick of assists to extend his tally to six assists on the year.
- The sophomore leads the team with eight goals and six assists for 22 points.
- Paquet recorded his team-leading 11th assist of the year.
- With the 41st point of his career, Paquet is fifth in All-Time Career Points.
- Paquet's 13th career assist sees the Sevilla native move into a tie for third place on the All-Time Career Assists Record.
- In net, senior sophomore Jake Balme (Sheffield, England) and Matt Katz (Amityville, N.Y.) combined for a shutout.
- Queens outshot the Saints 50-2 and 26-0 shots on goal.
- The 50 shots are a program record overtaking the 47 shots taken on September 26, 2011.
- The 26 shots on goal are the third shot in program history and the second time the Knights' offense recorded 20 shots on goal or more this season.
- The 30 points are the second most in program history overtaking the 28 points recorded on September 15, 2009.
Next Match
Head coach
Frank Vertullo and the Knights conclude the regular season on Saturday (Oct. 28) afternoon as the Saints of D'Youville University come to town. Kickoff 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), and Instagram (qcknightsny), men's soccer (qcmsoccer).
