FLUSHING, N.Y. – Playing under the lights and in very cool temperatures, East Coast Conference postseason play opened the campus of Queens College as the #3 seed Queens College men's soccer team welcomed the #6 seed Dolphins of College of Staten Island to Knights Field in a First Round Match Wednesday evening.
Hosting a playoff match for the second straight season, the Knights opened the scoring as sophomore
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) gave the Knights a 1-0 lead in the 25
th minute of play before the Dolphins responded a minute later to tie the match.
But with time running out in regulation, senior
Leo Pinto (Forest Hills, N.Y.) would record the 90th-minute game-winning goal as the Knights defeated the Dolphins to the final score of 2-1 Wednesday evening.
With the win, the Knights improved their record to 9-7-2 overall as they advanced to the Semi-Final match for the second straight season.
The Dolphins went on the attack early on as they earned two quick corner kicks in the opening five minutes of play but Queens' defense would negate both threats before the Knights midfield picked up the tempo.
Led by Cooke in the 11
th and 12
th minute of play, the English native would record two shots on goals but Dolphins goalie Amari Thompson would record timely saves to deny the opening goal of the match.
After a shot from CSI Miguel Espinosa sailed wide, the Dolphins would be assessed a straight red card on a foul on senior
Juan Monge Allue (Zaragoza, Spain) in the 15
th minute of play leaving the Dolphins to play with 10 players on the field for the remainder of the match.
Playing a man-up, the Knights' offense would continue on the attack as they recorded three shots for the next five minutes of play.
In the 25
th minute of play, Allue would deliver with a through ball for Cooke to beat Thompson through the left side to give Queens a 1-0 lead.
However, the lead would be short-lived as the Dolphins earned a penalty kick in the 26
th minute of play and Espinosa would convert the opportunity to tie the match at 1-1.
It would be a defensive battle for the remainder of the half as both sides went into halftime with the match tied at 1-1.
The second half of play would Queens maintain possession as they searched for the game-winner.
Through the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Knights would record eight shots with three shots on goal but were unlucky to the back of the net.
Earning a corner kick in the 71
st minute of play, sophomore
Andreas Charalambous's (Limassol, Cyprus) shot would sail wide before the Dolphins went on the counterattack.
Senior goalie
Austin Matthews (Chico, CA) would make a timely save denying Dolphins Fortune Uzo a potential 2-1 lead.
With Queens on the counterattack, Pinto shot in the 72
nd minute of play would deflect off the woodwork denying the Knights a 2-1 advantage.
With time running out, freshman
Andrew Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) would win the ball in the midfield before finding Pinto on the attacking end.
Having been dealt a heartbreaking loss last year, Pinto would take matters into his own hands to deliver the game-winning goal. With one minute remaining in regulation, the Forest Hills native would clinch the match with a chip over Thompson into the left corner for the game-winning goal as Queens took a 2-1 lead with 55 seconds remaining on the clock.
Needing to defend the final seconds of play, Pinto and his Knights would see off the final seconds as Queens earned a 2-1 victory to advance to the next round.
With the victory, head coach
Frank Vertullo and the Knights earned the program's first-ever postseason victory Wednesday evening.
- Cooke recorded his team-leading ninth goal to extend his points tally to 24 on the year.
- Pinto tallied his sixth goal and second game-winner of the year to extend his points tally to 15.
- The senior recorded his fourth game-winning of the year to extend his career points number to 34 with 13 career goals and eight assists.
- Allue recorded his third assist of the year.
- In goal, Matthews recorded two saves on the night.
- Queens outshot the Dolphins 26-4 and 11-3 shots on goal.
- The Knights outshot the Dolphins 17-1 in the second half.
Head coach
Frank Vertullo and the Knights now turn their attention to Saturday's (Nov.4) afternoon Semi-Final match as they prepare for a trip to Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. as they match up against defending champions Mavericks of Mercy University in a rematch of the 2022 ECC Semi-Final. Kickoff is set for noon.
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).
