FLUSHING, N.Y. – On Thursday, November 7 the Queens College women's soccer team won their first-ever East Coast Conference postseason victory as they defeated #6 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans in Flushing to the final score of 3-2 as they were led by the trio of sophomore midfielder Anna Tavantzis (Holbrook, N.Y.), senior forward/midfielder Julia Ragone (Centereach, N.Y.), and junior midfielder Adriana Melgar (Queens, N.Y.) goals to lead the charge.
 
In the 2024 ECC Preseason Poll, third year Head Coach Thomas Paris and the Knights were tabbed to finish fifth, but the Knights have exceeded those expectations by earning the #3 seed to the ECC Women's Soccer Tournament with an overall ECC record of 4-3 and booked a postseason spot for the consecutive year. The third place finish is the highest since the 2013 season when the Knights finished the year with a conference record of 6-3.

Queens College Postseason History

Having won their first ECC postseason game on Thursday, the Knights are now making their first semifinal appearance since the 2013 season and are in search of their second Championship appearance in program history. In 2010 the Knights would advance to the Championship game as their game against Bridgeport ended in a scoreless tie, but Queens would advance by earning a 5-3 victory in the penalty shootout.

Queens College Knights Preview (2024 Record: 10-6-1 Overall, 4-3 ECC)

• The Knights improved to 10-6-1 on the year, For the first time since the 2013 season the women's soccer program has recorded 10 wins, and earned six home wins, while their four wins in ECC play are the most when they went 6-3 in conference play in 2013.
  • The 2024 season is also the first winning season since the 2013 season when the Knights went 11-6-1 overall.
• As a team, the Knights have registered 27 goals with 254 total shot attempts and 110 shots on goal.
• On Wednesday, Nov. 6 the ECC announced the 2024 All-ECC teams, and Paris and his coaching staff have guided a program record six Knights to All-Conference honors.
  • The senior duo of forward/midfielder Julia Ragone (Centereach, N.Y.) and defender Sarah Anderson (East Set, N.Y.) earned All-ECC First Team honors.
  • While the pair of senior midfielder Erica Petrie (Marlboro, N.Y.) and freshman goalie Samantha Hines-Hirsch (Plainview, N.Y.) were selected to the All-ECC Second Team.
  • Lastly, the duo of senior midfielder Gabrielle Ciambella (Williamsville, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Adriana Melgar (Queens, N.Y.) were awarded a spot on the All-ECC Third Team honors.
• Ragone leads the team having recorded a team-high 22 points with a career-best 10 goals and two assists to go with one game-winning goal.
• The sophomore duo of midfielder Ashley Kieblesz (Middle Village, N.Y.) and midfielder Anna Tavantzis (Holbrook, N.Y.) have recorded six goals and four assists.
  • Kieblesz has earned two ECC Honor Roll spots on the Weekly Report sheet.
  • Tavantzis was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, Oct. 7.
• While nine different Knights have each recorded a goal in sophomore defender Lluvy Lewis (Valley Stream, N.Y.), sophomore Jenna Rosenberger (Smithtown, N.Y.), freshman forward Abigail Jalocha (Maspeth, N.Y.), junior midfielder Adriana Melgar (Queens, N.Y.), Ava Angiuli (Wantagh, N.Y.), senior midfielder Gabrielle Ciambella (Williamsville, N.Y.), rookie forward Scarlet Adams (Auburn, Ala.), senior midfielder Erica Petrie (Marlboro, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Alyssa Illiano (Valley Stream, N.Y.)
  • The trio of Lewis, Angiuli, and Petrie have been named to the ECC Honor Roll sheet.
• In goal, rookie Samantha Hines-Hirsch (Plainview, N.Y.) has earned all 17 starts and has recorded 72 saves with a goals-against average of 1.36.
  • Hines-Hirsch earned Defensive Player of the Week in the second ECC Weekly Report Sheet.
  • On Oct. 14 the rookie goalie was awarded her third Honor Roll spot of the year.
  • On Oct. 28 Hines-Hirsch was named Rookie of the Week for the first time this year.

East Coast Conference Women's Soccer Tournament

Having earned the #3 seed, the Knights welcomed the #6 seed Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas College to Flushing on Thursday, Nov. 7, and would earn their first ECC postseason victory to the final score of 3-2 to advance to Sunday's Semifinal against #2 seed Wildcats of Daemen University Wildcats on Sunday, Nov. 10 in Amherst, N.Y.
 
On the other side of the bracket, #1 seed Lions of Molloy University welcomes #4 seed Mavericks of Mercy University in the second Semifinal game.
 
The ECC Championship game will take place at the highest seed location remaining on Saturday, Nov. 16.

Daemen University Wildcats Preview

• Overall Wins-Losses-Ties History: 5-5-1
• Last Win: 1-0 (9/17/22)
• Last Loss: 0-1 (10/19/24)
• Last Tie: 1-1 (9/30/16)
• The Wildcats concluded the regular season with an overall record of 8-8, and 6-1 in ECC play to earn the #2 seed.
• Daemen concluded the regular season with a 2-0 victory on D'Youville on Saturday, Nov. 2.
• Sunday's meeting will be the 12^th meeting overall against the Wildcats with the All-Time series record at 5-5-1.
• During the regular season, Queens fell to the final score of 2-1 in Flushing with Ragone's late goal as the comeback fell short.
• Under head coach Thomas Paris, the Knights are 1-2 against the Wildcats with Queens earning a victory on September 17, 2022, over the Wildcats in Flushing in Paris's first season in charge of the women's soccer program.
• The Knights are in search of their first win in Amherst since the 2015 season when Queens earned a 1-0 victory on Oct. 10.

If the Knights Win on Sunday

With a victory over the Wildcats Sunday, they will set up a meeting against the winner of #1 seed Molloy University vs. #4 seed Mercy University on Saturday, Nov. 16.

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)