FLUSHING, N.Y. – Earning the #1 seed for the first time in program history the Queens College men's soccer team welcomed the #5 seed Molloy University Lions to Knights Field Sunday evening for a spot in the East Coast Conference Championship game as the Knights looked to defend their 2023 crown.
The Knights found themselves trailing 2-0 after 49 minutes of play before junior
Harry Cooke's (Market Drayton, England) 23
rd goal of the year brought Queens' deficit down to one in the 50
th minute of play. However, the Lions would extend their lead to 3-1 in the 70
th minute of play before the visitors' defense held on for the second ECC semifinals upset of the day.
Season Highlights
- Head coach Frank Vertullo and the Knights conclude the 2024 season with an overall record of 11-5-1 and went 7-0-1 in ECC play.
- It is the fourth straight season the Knights have posted a .500% and the third straight year Queens has recorded double-digit wins.
- The Knights won their first-ever ECC Regular Season Championship and the #1 seed.
- Vertullo and his coaching staff guided a program record seven All-ECC honors with four Knights earning All-ECC First Team honors and three on the Second Team.
- Junior forward Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England), junior midfielder Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.), senior defender Joaquim Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and redshirt freshman goalie Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) were awarded All-ECC First Team honors.
- The trio of sophomore forward Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain), freshman midfielder Bastian Engeli (Bergen, Norway), and redshirt junior defender Eyob Gaffigan (Walkersville, MD) were all awarded All-ECC Second Team honors.
- Queens earned two major ECC awards with Vertullo earning his second Coach of the Year honors and redshirt freshman Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) earning Goalkeeper of the Year.
- It is the second time in three seasons that Vertullo has been named COTY with the first one coming in 2022.
- Shehadeh became the first Knight to earn Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
- During the regular season the Knights recorded a program record 12 games unbeaten streak from September 21 to November 2.
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