FLUSHING, N.Y. – Looking to close out the first homestand of the year on a strong note Wednesday evening, the Queens College men's soccer team was led by four different goal scorers in red-shirt junior
Eyob Gaffian (Walkersville, MD), junior
Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.), Sophomore
Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) and junior
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) the Knights defeated the visiting Tigers of Holy Family University to the final score of 4-0 at Knights Field.
With the win, the Knights improved their record to 1-2 on the young season and earn first clean sheet of the year. The 4-0 victory over Holy Family extended Queens undefeated to seven games and it is also the fourth straight victory over the Tigers with the Knights outscoring the Tigers to a total of 15-5 in the run.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a game that saw the Knights dominate possession as they recorded a season-high 26 shots, Queens would get on the board in the 24
th minute of play as a long ball from junior
Andreas Charalambous (Limassol, Cyprus) found Gaffian who dribbled past the Tigers defense before chipping the ball over the Tigers goalie for a 1-0 lead.
Keeping the pressing going, the duo of sophomore
Fortune Uzo and freshman
Bastian Engeli (Bergen, Norway) would find Johnson who sent a right-foot blast from 25 yards out to put the Knights up 2-0 in the 25
th minute of play. Johnson recorded his first career goal in his 41
st career game.
The Tigers would attempt to cut the Knights lead in half just before halftime but a timely save from junior goalie
Noris Iten (Sachseln, Switzerland) would keep the home side ahead to the score of 2-0 heading into halftime.
Queens would keep the same intensity in the second half and would be awarded a free kick from 19 yards out as Soto Gonzalez was denied a goal-scoring opportunity with the Tigers goalie committing the foul and receiving a straight red.
The sophomore from Madrid, Spain stepped up for the free kick and would not waste the opportunity as he delivered with a right foot shot into the top right corner for his third goal of the year and put the Knights up 3-0.
The Tigers would get two goal-scoring opportunities late in the second half but each time a timely save from Iten would keep the Knights' first clean sheet of the year alive.
Queens would complete the four-goal game behind graduate student
Carlos Almeida's (Sao Paulo, Brazil) cross who found Cooke to complete the header into the far right corner as Cooke recorded his first goal of the season.
Sophomore goalie
Thanasis Shehaded (Nicosia, Cyprus) would complete the combined shutout playing out the final 12:16 minute of the game as Queens closed out the homestand on a strong note.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Gaffigan and Johnson scored their first career goal for a career-high two points each.
- Gaffigan scored his first game-winning goal of his career.
- Soto Gonzalez scored his third goal of the year and leads the Knights with six points on the year.
- Cooke recorded his first goal of the year and 11th of his Knights career.
- Charalambous, Engeli, Uzo, and Almeida each recorded an assist with Almeida recording his second assist of the year.
- Queens outshot Holy Family 26-8 and 13-2 shots on goal.
- The 26 shots are the most record recorded this season.
- Iten and Shehadeh combined for two saves between the pipes as the duo combined for the first clean sheet of the season.
NEXT GAME
The Knights open a three-game roadstand beginning on Sunday, Sept 15 as they travel to Rutherford, N.J. for a non-conference game against the Golden Falcons of Felician University. Kick-off is set for 12:30 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).
