DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Opening a two-game East Coast Conference road stand Wednesday afternoon, the Queens College men's soccer team matched up against nationally-ranked #20 Mavericks of Mercy University at Mercy Field.
Trailing 1-0 after the 20
th minute of play senior
Joaquim Johnson's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) second goal of the year would help Queens tie the game 1-1 in the 43
rd minute of play before graduate student
Carlos Almeida (Sao Paulo, Brazil) second goal of the year in the 51
st minute of play helped the Knights take a 2-1 lead. But the Mavericks would find the equalizer in the 78
th minute of play before both teams battled out the final 12 minutes of play in search of the game-winner. However, at the final whistle, the Knights would earn a hard-fought 2-2 draw against the Mavericks.
With the tie, Queens improves to 8-4-2 overall, and 5-0-1 in ECC play on the year. Wednesday's draw earned Queens their second tie over Mercy in program history and first tie since October 15, 2016, when both teams battled to a 1-1 draw in Flushing. While it is the first road tie against their ECC foe at Mercy Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Knights' defense would be quickly put under pressure as the Mavericks earned a corner kick in the second minute of play but red-shirt freshman goalie
Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) negated the Mavericks attacking opportunity with a timely save.
Queens would look to switch the tempo as Almeida recorded the Knights' first shot on goal in the sixth minute of play but the Mavericks goalie would make a timely save to keep the game scoreless.
With the home side controlling the tempo of the game, they would take a 1-0 lead in the 20
th minute of play off a penalty kick opportunity.
As the Mavericks continued to apply the pressure, Shehadeh would continue to keep the Knights' deficit at 1-0 as Queens looked to generate offense.
Enter the final seven minutes of the first half, junior
Harry Cooke's (Market Drayton, England) shot would deflect off the crossbar before Johnson's shot was saved in the 40
th minute of play.
After the Knights earned a free kick opportunity Cooke would connect with Johnson in the 43
rd minute of play as the senior defender beat the Mavericks goalie with a shot into the bottom center to tie the game at 1-1 heading to halftime.
Taking the momentum into the second half, Queens would take a 2-1 lead as rookie
Bastian Engeli (Bergen, Norway) connected with Almeida for the graduate student to blast a left-footed shot for the lead in the 51
st minute of play.
Queens would continue to press the Mavericks as they looked to take a 3-1 lead as they tallied two shots on goal in the 53
rd and 57
th minute of play.
But the Mavericks' offense would find the equalizer in the 78
th minute of play off a free kick opportunity.
In the final 10 minutes of play as both sides looked to find the game-winner, back-to-back offside calls on the Mavericks would negate their attacking opportunities while Almeida and Cooke's shots on goals were denied.
As Queens got a free kick opportunity from 19 yards out, Cooke's shot on goal would deflect off the right post in the 83
rd minute of play.
The Knights defense would block a shot in the 87
th minute of play before Almeida's shot on goal towards the bottom center was denied by the Mavericks goalie in the final seconds of the game as both teams fought for a hard-earned ECC tie in Dobbs Ferry.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Johnson tallied his second goal of the year and fifth of his career and extended his points tally to five on the year.
- Almeida notched his second goal of the year to extend his points tally to 10 on the year.
- Cooke notched his sixth assist of the year for his team-leading 36th point of the year.
- Engeli notched his fourth assist of the year to extend his points tally to six on the year.
- In goal, Shehadeh tied a career-best six saves on the afternoon.
- Queens was outshot 16-14 by Mercy, while the Knights held an 11-8 shots on goal advantage.
- Cooke and Almeida combined for 10 shots and seven shots on goal.
- While Johnson and sophomore Tommy Gunn (Buenos Aires, Argentina) combined for three shots on goal.
NEXT GAME
The Knights conclude their two-game East Coast Conference road stand on Sunday, Oct. 27 with a trip to Sparkill, N.Y. as they match up against the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College. Kick-off is set for 2:30 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).
