FLUSHING, N.Y. – The Queens College men's soccer team ended week five of play with back-to-back East Coast Conference victories at home.
 
Head coach Frank Vertullo and the Knights defeated District of Columbia 4-0 victory on Wednesday evening before ending the week with a 6-2 victory over College of Staten Island on Saturday evening.

Queens College Preview (2024 Record: 6-4 Overall, 4-0 ECC)

• Queens extended their wins streak to five games in week five by recording their third four-goal performance in the victory over UDC at home on Wednesday before earning their fourth straight ECC victory with a 6-2 victory over Staten Island Saturday.
• As a team, the Knights have recorded 30 goals registering 173 shots with 92 shots on goals.
• Junior forward Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) leads the team with a team-high 29 points having tallied 12 goals and five assists on the year.
  • On Monday, Oct. 7 Cooke earned a consecutive ECC Offensive Player of the Week honors as he led the way with 10 points with five goals.
  • The junior has also earned an ECC Honor Roll spot (9.23) on the year.
• Sophomore forward Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) has recorded 17 points with seven goals to go with three assists.
  • On Monday, Sept. 30, Soto Gonzalez earned his second ECC weekly honor as he was named to the Honor Roll sheet.
• Graduate student forward Carlos Almeida (Sao Paulo, Brazil) has recorded a team-high six assists and one goal for eight points on the year.
  • On Monday, Oct. 7 Almeida was awarded a Honor Roll spot for the first time this year.
• Junior Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.), redshirt junior Eyob Gaffigan (Walkersville, MD), freshman Bastian Engeli (Bergen, Norway), sophomore Andrew Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.), senior Joaquim Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), sophomore Jason Udo (Bronx, N.Y.), rookie Kleverson Bolanos (Kew Gardens, N.Y.), and sophomore Tommy Gunn (Buenos Aires, Argentina) have combined for 10 goals and two game-winning goals.
• In goal, junior Noris Iten (Sachseln, Switzerland) and sophomore Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) have combined for 27 saves, three shutouts, and one combined shutout, and hold a goals against average of 1.50.
  • On Monday, Sept. 30 Shehadeh was named to the ECC Honor Roll sheet for the first time in his career having recorded two shutouts.
• In the ECC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll, Vertullo and his squad have been tabbed to repeat as Champions as they earned four first-place votes for a total of 72 points. (Link)

Opponent Outlook

Vertullo and the Knights continue their homestand on Wednesday, Oct. 9 as they return to non-conference play as the Rams of Thomas Jefferson University come to town before concluding the week's play on Saturday, Oct. 12 against the Cougars of Caldwell University.

Thomas Jefferson University Preview

• Overall Wins-Losses-Ties History: 2-4-1
• Last Win: 4-1 (9/7/22)
• Last Loss: 0-2 (10/25/23)
• Last Tie: 2-2 (9/3/16)
• The Rams enter the week with an overall record of 7-1-2 and are coming off a 4-0 victory over Bloomfield College on Saturday afternoon.  
• Wednesday's meeting will be the 8^th overall against Jefferson with the Knights trailing the All-Time series to a record of 2-4-1.
• Wednesday's game will be the fourth straight meeting against the Rams with the past four meetings seeing both teams earn two wins including the Knights earning a 4-1 victory at home on September 7, 2022. While the Knights fell 0-2 in Philadelphia on October 25, 2023.

Caldwell University Preview

• Overall Wins-Losses-Ties History: 3-1-1
• Last Win: 5-0 (9/30/13)
• Lass Loss: 2-4 (9/28/10)
• Last Tie: 1-1 (9/29/11)
• The Cougars enter the week with an overall record of 4-2-2 and are coming off a 1-1 tie against Wilmington University (Del.) and will match up against Dominican University of New York on Tuesday afternoon before traveling to Flushing on Saturday evening.
• Saturday's meeting will be the sixth overall meeting against Caldwell with Queens leading the All-Time series 3-1-1. Both sides are meeting against each other for the first time since September 30, 2013, when Queens earned a 5-0 over the Cougars. It will be the first meeting in Flushing since October 18, 2012, when the Knights earned a 4-1 victory.   

Week Seven Outlook:

Vertullo and the Knights return to East Coast Conference play in their lone game of the week on Saturday, Oct. 19 against the Wildcats of Daemen University.

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).