DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Returning to their second straight East Coast Conference Semi-Final match, the #3 seed Queens College men's soccer team traveled to Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. as they matched up against defending champions and #2 seed Mavericks of Mercy University at Mercy Field Saturday afternoon.
Heading into Saturday afternoon's ECC Semi-Final match, head coach
Frank Vertullo and the Knights had an uphill task ahead of them as they not only needed to defeat the Mavericks to advance to their first-ever ECC Final, but they would have to do something they had done since the 2015 season which was defeat the Mavericks who held an eight-match unbeaten streak over the Knights.
Saturday's match would also be a rematch of the 2022 ECC Semi-Final match which saw the Knights suffer a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in Flushing.
Queens opened the scoring in the 33
rd minute of play as sophomore
Andreas Charalambous (Limassol, Cyprus) delivered with a bicycle kick into the top left corner as the Knights took a 1-0 lead into halftime. However, the Mavericks would respond in the opening 13 minutes of the second half as they took a 3-1 lead.
But Queens would go down without a fight as they were led by a second-half brace from freshman
Andrew Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) to tie the game 3-3 before rookie
Tommy Gunn (Buenos Aires, Argentina) shocked the Mavericks with eight seconds remaining in regulation to deliver the game-winning goal as Queens earned a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory.
With the victory, the Knights improved their record to 10-7-2 overall to advance to their first-ever East Coast Conference Final in program history.
It would be a battle of two evenly matched teams on the afternoon as both teams took the first 10 minutes to settle their nerves.
In the 11
th minute of play, the Knights would record the first shot on goal as senior
Nicholas Tagios (East Williston, N.Y.) put one on target but a timely save from Mavericks goalie Eirik Elvestad would keep the match scoreless.
Over the next 10 minutes of play, it would be the Mavericks who attempted to dictate the pace of play as they earned three corner kicks and recorded three shots including a shot on goal from Luis Silva in the 20
th minute of play, but this time Queens senior goalie
Austin Matthews (Chico, CA) would keep the Mavericks from scoring with a timely save.
With a midfield battle brewing, an offside would cancel a Knights attacking opportunity before back-to-back fouls on the Mavericks gave Queens a set piece in the 29
th minute of play. Senior
Adolfo Martinez Paquet (Sevilla, Spain) would execute the free kick as the ball found rookie
Tommy Wagner (East Northport, N.Y.) who headed a shot into the bottom left corner but another timely save from Elvestad would keep the match scoreless but it would earn the Knights their first corner kick of the day.
Off the corner kick, red-shirt sophomore
Jose Mendez (Queens, N.Y.) shot would sail out left.
After a shot from Mercy Phillimon Bedard-Khalid sailed out left in the 33
rd minute of play, Queens would respond on the counterattack as senior
Leo Pinto (Forest Hills, N.Y.) was fouled from 30 yards out giving the Knights another set-piece.
Once again Paquet would deliver the ball into the box before Charalambous put the Knights up 1-0 with a bicycle kick goal into the top right corner as Queens took a 1-0 lead in the 33
rd minute of play.
With 12 minutes remaining until halftime, Queens continued to maintain their attacking tempo as they recorded three shots including a shot on goal from Pinto but the Mavericks defense would keep the score line at 1-0 heading into halftime.
With Queens leading 1-0 to open the second half of play, it would be the Maverick who wasted no time in responding as they shocked the Knights with three goals in 10 minutes as they took a 3-1 lead with 57:07 on the clock.
In last's year ECC Semi-Final match, it was the Mavericks who took a 1-0 lead at halftime before Queens responded to take a 2-1 lead before Mercy scored the tying goal late in regulation and earned a 3-2 win in extra time.
After a quiet passage of play where neither side was able to land a shot and with Queens being outshot 5-0 in the second half, Vertullo and his squad the Knights would start to pick the pace.
In the 66
th minute of play, sophomore
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) would record the Knights' first shot of the second half on target but Elvestad would make another timely save to keep the Mavericks 3-1 lead intact.
With Queens still in their attacking half, the Knights would cut their deficit down to 3-2 as a long throw from Tagios would find Johnson to complete a header into the top left corner in the 71
st minute of play.
Staying on the offensive, the speedy rookie
Juan Gomez (Brentwood, N.Y.) shot would sail out right in the 72
nd minute as the Knights started to dictate the pace of play.
After Queens won the ball in the midfield, the Oakdale native Johnson would deliver with his second goal in three minutes as he raced past the Mavericks' defenders before beating Elvestad through the left side to knot the match at 3-3 in the 74
th minute of play.
Having rallied back from a two-goal deficit to tie the match, Queens had shifted the momentum.
The Mavericks would record their sixth shot of the second half and first in over 20 minutes, but Eduardo Costa's shot in the 75
th minute of play would sail out top.
Looking to keep the pressure on, Johannes Hanken Tjostheim's shot on target in the 78
th minute of play would be denied by Matthews to keep the game tied 3-3.
With the clock entering the final 12 minutes of regulation, Queens would rattle four shots on goal but were unlucky to the find back of the net as they searched for the lead.
Entering the final three minutes of play, a shot from Mavericks Daniel Rodriquez would sail out top in the 89
th minute of play as extra time neared for the second straight season against the Mavericks in postseason play.
After a long ball from Matthews found Cooke and the clock in the final 30 seconds of regulation, Paquet attempted a shot from 30 yards out, but rookie Gunn would be in the right place at the right time as he deflected the senior shot from top of the five-yard box past a diving Elvestad into the left corner for the game-winning goal setting off a wild celebration scene in Dobbs Ferry with eight seconds remaining.
Needing to defend the final eight seconds of play, the Knights would hold off the Mavericks as Vertullo and his Knights rallied from 3-1 down to earn a 4-3 comeback victory to advance to their first-ever East Coast Conference Final match in program history.
- Gunn recorded his fifth goal and his third game-winning goal of the year.
- Rookie Johnson paced the Knights offense with a team-high four points with a second-half brace as he recorded his fourth and fifth goal of his young career.
- The Oakdale native recorded his first career brace to extend his points tally to 12 on the year.
- Charalambous recorded his second goal of the year.
- Paquet recorded a team-high two assists to extend his single-season record to 13 on the year to extend his points tally to 19 on the year.
- In 39 matches, Paquet has recorded 43 points for 14 goals and 15 assists as he moves into fourth place in the All-Time Career Points.
- The 15 assists move the senior into third place on the All-Time Career Assists.
- The 13 Assists are a program record in a single season.
- Tagios recorded his fifth assist of the year to extend his points tally to 13 on the year.
- In 37 career matches, Tagios has recorded 40 points for 14 goals and 12 assists.
- The 40 career points move Tagios into sole possession of sixth place, while his 12 career assists see the senior move into a tie for fifth place.
- In goal, Matthews recorded two saves on the day.
- Queens outshot the Mavericks 16-13 and 12-5 shots on goal.
- The Knights outshot the Mavericks 9-8 in the second half including 9-3 in the final 20 minutes of the second.
Head Coach Frank Vertullo: In 22 years of coaching college soccer, I've never been a part of a game like that. Our boys' resiliency despite going into halftime up 1-0 and before we can blink be down 3-1 is a testament to their will to win. That was a complete roller coaster of emotions and one of the best finishes to end a game.
With their victory and #4 The University of the District of Columbia Firebirds upset victory over #1 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College, head coach
Frank Vertullo and the Knights will now host the East Coast Conference Men's Soccer Final on Saturday (Nov. 11) afternoon. More details to follow soon.
All home games will be live-streamed on the
ECC Sports Network and fans can follow along on
Live Stats as well.
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).
