CHARLESTON, WV – Having earned the #10 seed to the 2023 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament, the Queens College men's soccer team traveled to Charleston, West Virginia for the preliminary rounds of the Super Region One Bracket as they matched up against #7 seed Notre Dame College (OH) Falcons Thursday (Nov. 16) afternoon at Welch Athletic Complex.
 
Competing in their second-ever NCAA Tournament match and second in back-to-back seasons, the Knights were matching up against the Falcons who were making their seventh overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
A goal from Falcons' Parker Bolin would give the #7 seed a 1-0 lead before the Knights rallied in the second half. Freshman Juan Gomez (Brentwood, N.Y.) would start the comeback as he blasted a shot from the top of the 18-yard box to tie the match before senior Leo Pinto (Forest Hills, N.Y.) delivered a cross for sophomore Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) to blast home the game-winning goal as Queens earned a 2-1 victory to advance to the Second Round of the Super Regional One Bracket.
 
With the victory, the Knights improved their overall record to 12-7-2 and earned the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
 
Also for the second straight season, the #10 seed in the Super Regional One bracket has won the First Round match.

Match Recap

It was a battle of two evenly matched teams in the first half as both sides showed a passage of control. However It was the Falcons who began the first half in control of the ball as they recorded the first two shots including a shot on goal in the sixth minute of play.
 
But the Knights would need to calm their nerves as they began the match shaky which included committing three quick fouls in the first 10 minutes of play.
 
As head coach Frank Vertullo rallied his Knights to calm down, Queens would slowly start to find their rhythm and shape as Pinto tallied the Knights' first shot but it would sail wide in the 15^th minute of play.
 
After an offside call in the 19^th minute of play canceled an attacking opportunity for the Knights, senior Adolfo Martinez Paquet (Sevilla, Spain) would execute a through ball for Cooke to dribble into the attacking zone, but the sophomore's right-footed shot would just miss the far end of the post in the 21^st minute of play
 
However, on the counterattack, Bolin would strike for the Falcons as Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead in the 22^nd minute of play.
 
The Knight would pick up the tempo as they earned two corner kicks, but they would go into halftime trailing 1-0.
 
Needing to respond and playing behind for the second straight season in the NCAA Tournament, Vertullo and his squad would put the Falcons goalie under pressure quickly into the restart as senior Juan Monge Allue (Zaragoza, Spain) tallied a shot on goal towards the bottom center of the net in the 49^th minute of play.
 
The Falcons would earn two corner kicks but were unable to convert before Queens took advantage of their first corner kick of the match in the 54^th minute of play.
 
As Pinto delivered a left-footed curler into the box, the ball would bounce off a defender before rookie Gomez sent a right-foot blast near the right post to tie the match 1-1 in the 59^th minute of play.
 
Having tied the match and still plenty of time left to find the game-winner, senior Pinto would waste no time finding the game-winning goal.
 
After the restart, the speedy Pinto would race into the attacking zone before delivering a cross into the 18-yard box for Cooke to blast home the game-winning goal into the left corner for a 2-1 advantage in the 62^nd minute of play.
 
Having stunned Notre Dame with two quick goals, Queens would hold the Falcons to two shots over the next 10 minutes of play with senior goalie Austin Matthews (Chico, CA) making two big saves to preserve the 2-1 lead.
 
Over the final 18 minutes of play, Matthews and his defense keep the Falcons offense at bay as Queens held on to win their first-ever NCAA Tournament match in program history.

Match Highlights

• Cooke recorded his team-leading 10^th goal and fourth game-winning goal of the year.
  • With his 10^th goal, the sophomore leads the Knights offense with 26 points on the year.
• Gomez recorded his first career goal and it would be no bigger than the match-tying goal in the 59^th minute of play.
• Pinto recorded his fourth assist of the year to extend his points tally to 16 with six goals and four assists.
• In goal, Matthews made four saves on the afternoon to earn his sixth victory of the year.
• The Knights were outshot 10-7 shots and 5-4 shots on goal.
  • Both teams were tied with 3 corner kicks each.
  • A total of 27 fouls were called with two yellow cards being raised.

Next Match

The Quest for a National Championship now takes head coach Frank Vertullo and his squad into the Round of 32 for the first time in program history on Saturday (Nov. 18) evening as they now prepare for nationally ranked #3 and #2 seed Golden Eagles of University of Charleston. Kickoff set for 6:00 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).  Read Full Article