FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing their homestand Saturday evening the Queens College men's soccer team welcomed the regionally-ranked #9 Cougars of Caldwell University to Knights Field in non-conference action.
Matching up against the Cougars for the sixth time in program history and first meeting since the 2013 season sophomore goalie
Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) recorded a career-best six saves as the Knights battled it out to a scoreless tie against Caldwell Saturday evening.
With the tie, Queens improves to 7-4-1 overall on the year. Saturday's tie is just the second against the Cougars in six meetings and the first since the 2011 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Queens opened the game as the aggressors as the duo of graduate student
Carlos Almeida (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and junior
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) combined for two shots but both shots would sail out left in the opening three minutes of play
The Cougars would take over the next 10 minutes of play as they recorded six shots including three shots on goals but Shehadeh would keep the game knotted at zero as the Knights looked to switch the tempo.
Playing on the counterattack sophomore
Miguel Soto Gonzalez's (Madrid, Spain) shot would get blocked in the 16
th minute before the Cougars attempted to score on a counterattack of their own but once again Shehadeh would notch a save.
In a defensive battle to end the first half, both sides would combine for three shots over the final 20 minutes of play as they went into halftime with the game still scoreless.
It would be a tale of two halves for the Knights as the home side was outshot 9-6 and 5-1 shots on goals in the first half before Queens flipped the script in the second half as they outshot the Cougars 17-2 including 3-1 shots on goals.
As the Knights dictated the tempo, the Cougars' defense would hold their own to keep the game scoreless as both sides searched for the opening goal of the game.
Cooke opened the second half recording back-to-back shots on goal but the Cougars goalie would deny both shots in the opening five minutes of play into the restart.
With Queens continuing to maintain possession, the Knights would see three shots get blocked, including a timely save from Cougars defense on junior
Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) shot in the 74
th minute of play.
Continuing to keep the pressure on the Cougars defensive Johnson's shot just missed going into the top right corner as it deflected off the right post before Cooke's shot went out right on the rebound attempt.
In the final five minutes of play, Shehadeh would keep the game knotted at zero with a timely save in the 88
th minute of play before Queens recorded back-to-back shots on their counterattack.
Entering the final 15 seconds of play, Queens would earn a free kick from 19 yards out, and with Cooke lining up to earn his 15
th goal of the year and sixth game-winner, the junior's shot would get blocked as both teams were forced to settle for a hard-fought 90 minute draw in Flushing.
BY THE NUMBERS
- In goal, Shehadeh recorded a career-best six saves and earned his fifth shutout of the year.
- Queens outshot Caldwell 23-11, while the Cougars held a 6-4 shots on goal advantage.
- Cooke recorded a game-high nine shots and one shot on goal.
- The trio of Almeida, sophomore Andrew Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y), and senior Joaquim Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) combined for three shots on goal.
NEXT GAME
The Knights will use the week to prepare for an East Coast Conference battle on Saturday, Oct. 19 as the Wildcats of Daemen University come to town. Kick-off 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).
