FLUSHING, N.Y. – Earning a consecutive East Coast Conference postseason berth and their first #3 seed since the 2012 season, the Queens College women's soccer team welcomed the #6 seed Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College to Knights Field Thursday evening in a First Round Game.
Hosting their first-ever playoff game, the Knights were led by the trio of sophomore midfielder
Anna Tavantzis's (Holbrook, N.Y.), senior forward/midfielder
Julia Ragone's (Centereach, N.Y) first-half goals before junior midfielder
Adriana Melgar (Queens, N.Y.) notched Queens third goal of the game for a commanding lead of 3-0 in the 59
th minute of play. But the Spartans would not go away without a fight as they notched two goals in the final 10 minutes but two saves from rookie goalie
Samantha Hines-Hirsch (Plainview, N.Y.) would help the Knights hold off the late rally as Queens earned a 3-2 victory to advance to Sunday's Semifinal game.
With the win, the Knights improved to 10-6-1 overall.
While Thursday's win over STAC earns third year Head Coach
Thomas Paris and the Knights' first double-digit winning season since the 2013 season and the Knights' first-ever postseason victory in program history.
GAME RECAP
It would be all Queens in the first half as they outshot the Spartans as the Knights went on the attack from the first kickoff.
An offside call against the Knights in the second minute of play would negate the first attacking chance before the trio of senior midfielder
Erica Petrie (Marlboro, N.Y.), sophomore forward
Jenna Rosenberger (Smithtown, N.Y.), and Ragone notched four shots.
Petrie would tally two shots with one of them deflecting off the left post in the 16
th minute of play while Rosenberger and Ragone's shots sailed wide.
In the 22
nd minute of play, Spartans Sarai Rodriguez would notch the first shot for the visitors but it would sail out right.
But Queens would continue to press with Petrie recording a shot on target in the 32
nd minute of play but a timely save from Spartans goalie Catalena Robson would keep the game scoreless.
As the Knights continued to put the Spartans' defense under pressure, the Knights would earn a free kick but as Ragone's header deflected off the left post, Tavantzis would be in the right spot at the right time to blast off home the goal as Queens opened the scoring in the 39
th minute of play.
Just two minutes later Spartans Ninni Ringstad would look to tie the game but a timely save from Hines-Hirsch would keep the Knights' 1-0 lead intact.
On the counterattack in the 43
rd minute of play, Tavantzis would connect with Ragone as the senior recorded her 10
th goal of the year as Queens extended their lead to 2-0.
With 32 seconds left in the first half, Petrie's shot would sail out right as she looked to give the Knights a 3-0 lead heading into the locker room.
However, Queens would take a 2-0 lead into halftime as they shot the Spartans 10-2 in the first half.
The Spartans opened the second half on the attacking end as they saw an offside call negate a potential attacking opportunity before Queens' defense held firm on a corner kick in the first five minutes into the restart.
As the Knights started to maintain possession and looked to extend their lead, Ragone's and Rosenberger's shots would sail wide before Rosenberger connected with Melgar for the junior to give Queens a 3-0 lead in the 59
th minute of play.
Needing to play out the final half hour of play the Spartans would start to apply the pressure as they looked to rally.
As the Knights saw two offside calls negate their attacking opportunities, Spartans Kaitlyn Maguire would tally the Spartans' second shot on target but a timely save from Hines-Hirsch would keep the 3-0 lead intact in the 71
st minute of play.
With STAC starting to maintain possession and applying pressure on the Knights defense, the Spartans would avoid a shutout for the second straight game against Queens as Rodriguez delivered a corner kick for Amalie Steen to cut the home side lead down to 3-1 in the 82
nd minute of play.
The Knights would see three offside calls cancel their attacking opportunities over the next three minutes of play.
But as Kara Hill's shot on goal was denied by the Knights rookie goalie Natalie Oden would put the rebound shot away to cut Queens' lead down to 3-2 with 29 seconds left in the game.
Needing to play out the final 29 seconds of play Ringstad's shot with three seconds left would just sail out left as the Knights held on for their first-ever postseason victory and advanced to Sunday's Semifinal game.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Tavantzis and Ragone paced the Knights offense with three points in the victory.
- The sophomore recorded her third goal and fourth assist of the year to extend her points tally to 10.
- The senior recorded her team-leading 10th goal and second assist of the year to extend her points tally to 22.
- Melgar recorded her second goal of the year and first game-winning goal of the year.
- The junior extended her points tally to seven on the year.
- Rosenberger recorded her fourth assist of the year to extend her points tally to eight.
- In goal, Hines-Hirsch recorded three saves in the victory and earned her 10th victory of the year.
- The 10 wins are the most by a rookie in program history breaking Lauren Usewicz's record of nine wins notched in 2003.
- The Knights outshot the Spartans 14-11, while the Spartans held a 5-4 advantage on shots on goal.
- Petrie and Ragone combined for 10 shots and two shots on goal.
- Tavantzis, Rosenberger, and Melgar combined for four shots and two shots on goal.
Next Game
Head coach
Thomas Paris and the Knights head to Amherst, N.Y. for an ECC Semifinal showdown against #2 seed Wildcats of Daemen University on Sunday, Nov. 10 at Karrer Field. Kick-off is set for 11:00 a.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), Instagram (qcknightsny), women's soccer (qcwsoccer)
