CHARLESTON, WV – On Saturday (Nov. 18) evening playing under the lights in very cool and windy conditions at the Welch Athletic Complex, the #10 seed Queens College men's soccer team matched up against one of their toughest tests of the year with a battle against nationally ranked #3 and #2 seed University of Charleston Golden Eagles in the NCAA Men's Soccer Second Round match.
Facing an uphill battle against one of the nation's best offensive teams, the Knights' quest for a National Championship would conclude in the NCAA Second Round with a defeat to the Golden Eagles on Saturday evening.
2023 Season Highlights
However, it was a season of first of many and more for sixth-year head coach
Frank Vertullo and his squad in what was another record-breaking season.
During the regular season, Vertullo became the All-Time Coaching leader in program history and the first men's soccer coach to hit the half-century mark. Entering the 2024 season, Vertullo will take an overall record of 57-40-10 (.579).
The 2023 season saw the Knights advance to their first-ever East Coast Conference Final and they would earn the right to host following an upset victory over the top two seeds. Playing in their first-ever final, Queens would win the program's first-ever ECC Championship and they would do it by being the first-ever #3 seed to be crowned a Champion in league history.
Queens would then continue their historic season as they earned the #10 seed to the NCAA Tournament and they would the begin in the only way they know by upsetting a higher seed. They would defeat #7 seed Notre Dame College (OH) 2-1 in the NCAA First Round Match as the Knights made their second straight appearance in the big dance. Last season they were upset as the #7 seed in their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but the 2023 squad despite trialing 1-0 would never waver and upset the #7 seed Notre Dame to earn the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.
Vertullo and the Knights entered the 2023 postseason in search of their first-ever postseason victory but they would go on to win four postseason matches and leave their mark in program history. Following the conclusion of Saturday's match, Vertullo takes a postseason record of 4-3-1 into the new year.
five student-athletes were awarded for their performances during the regular season as they were led by senior
Adolfo Martinez Paquet (Sevilla, Spain) and red-shirt sophomore
Jose Mendez (Queens, N.Y.) who earned ECC First-Team All-Conference honors while the trio of sophomore
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England), senior
Leo Pinto (Forest Hills, N.Y.) and sophomore
Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) were awarded a spot on the Second-Team.
For the sixth straight season, the Knights saw a minimum of at least one student-athlete on the All-Conference sheet. Also, it was the second time under Vertullo and the first time since the 2018 season that five student-athletes were awarded All-Conference honors.
The Knights will graduate eight student-athletes 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).
The 2023 season has ended but the future remains bright as ever in Flushing and the Knights will look to take another level when the 2024 season rolls around.
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).
