FLUSHING, N.Y. – Opening a season-high five-game homestand Wednesday evening the Queens College men's soccer team welcomed the Firebirds of the University of the District of Columbia to Knights Field in East Coast Conference action.
Junior
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) continued his goal-scoring ways by recording his third straight game-winning goal in the first half before completing his second brace of the year with a goal in the second half before junior
Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) and freshman
Kleverson Bolanos (Kew Gardens, N.Y) notched goals to help Queens complete their third straight shutout and earn the ECC victory to the final score of 4-0 Wednesday evening.
With the win, Queens improved to 5-4 overall on the year and 3-0 in ECC play. Wednesday's win over the Firebirds earned Queens their 10
th victory in their 14
th All-Time meeting since the 2011 season. At home, the Knights improved their record to 8-0-1 against their conference foe.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a chippy game that saw a total of 36 fouls, and seven yellow cards raised, the opening 10 minutes of play would see four fouls called before a shot was registered.
In the 12
th minute of play, junior
Kevin Johnson's (Oakdale, N.Y.) shot would get blocked before sophomore
Andrew Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) shot in the 14
th minute of play was saved by the Firebirds goalie.
Continuing to attack, Queens would earn their second penalty kick of the year as Cooke shot's towards goal was denied by a handball in the 18
th minute of play. Cooke would step up to the mark and bury the PK attempt into the bottom right corner for a 1-0 lead.
The Firebirds would attempt to tie the game in the 28
th minute of play but sophomore goalie
Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) would up to the mark and make the save to keep the Knights' 1-0 lead intact.
In the first half, the Knights would outshoot the Firebirds 10-3 but were limited to the lone goal from Cooke as they took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
With the fouls and yellow cards increasing in the second half for both teams, Queens would continue to dictate the passage of play and would be awarded in the 66
th minute of play. As sophomore
Jason Udo (Bronx, N.Y.) dribbled up the field and into the box, the Bronx native would deliver with a through ball for Cooke to hammer the home goal from six yards out into the middle of the net to complete his second brace of the season as Queens took a 2-0 lead.
Staying on the attack, the Knights would tally their third goal of the game as red-shirt junior
Eyob Gaffian's (Walkersville, MD) throw-in allowed the junior Johnson to dribble up the field before blasting a shot from 18 yards out into the bottom left corner for a 3-0 advantage.
Queens would complete the scoring as Bolanos battled past UDC defenders and the goalie and with an open net to shoot at, the rookie would complete the shot from 18 yards out as the Knights took a 4-0 lead in the 74
th minute of play to seal the victory and their third ECC victory of the year.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Cooke recorded his team-leading 23rd point of the year with his second brace of the year as he notched his team-leading eighth and ninth of the year.
- The junior has recorded 19 points in the last five games recording eight goals and three assists.
- On the year Cooke has notched nine goals and five assists for a team-high 23 points.
- For the third straight game, the junior has tallied the game-winning goal.
- Junior Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) recorded his third goal of the year for a career-best six points, while Bolanos tallied his first career goal.
- Udo and Gaffigan recorded their second assist of the year and second of the year in the last three games.
- In goal, Shehadeh recorded two saves and earned his third win and third straight shutout of the year.
- Queens outshot UDC 19-10 and held 10-2 shots on goal advantage.
- Cooke recorded a game-high five shots and four shots on goal.
- Junior Johnson and Sophomore Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) combined for six shots and two shots on goal.
NEXT GAME
The Knights continue East Coast Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 5 as the Dolphins of the College of Staten Island come to town. Kick-off is set for 7:30 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).
