NEW HAVEN, CONN. – Continuing non-conference play on the road the Queens College men's soccer team matched up against the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University at Jess Dow Field.
Sophomore
Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) paced the Knights offense registering his team-leading fourth goal of the year but the Owls would earn a 3-1 victory over Queens Wednesday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It would be an aggressive start to the game with the Owls committing two fouls in the opening five minutes of the game. With both sides looking to establish early momentum, it would be the Owls who would take the first shot on goal but junior goalie
Noris Iten (Sachseln, Switzerland) would be up to the mark.
As the Knights started to search for momentum, Graduate student
Carlos Almeida (Sao Paulo, Brazil) earning his first start of the year would find Soto Gonzalez on the far side of the field for the forward to dribble into the box and register the first shot of the game for Queens but as his shot was blocked, graduate student
John Morell (New Britain, CT) rebound shot attempt would get saved by the Owls goalie.
The Knights looking to maintain possession would tally three more shots in the opening 15 minutes of play before Soto Gonzalez finally broke through behind a through ball from junior
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) in the 16
th minute of play. As Cooke battled past the Owls defense, the junior connected with Soto Gonzalez who completed the right-foot blast into the top left corner for an early 1-0 lead.
The Owls would look to respond right away but the shot would sail high in the 17
th minute of play. As the foul tally picked up for both sides Queens on the counterattack looked to take a 2-0 lead but red-shirt junior
Eyob Gaffigan's (Walkersville, MD) shot would get saved in the 20
th minute of play.
As Southern Connecticut started to maintain possession of the ball, Iten would negate a shot on goal in the 28
th minute of play before the home side tied the game at 1-1 in the 34
th minute of play off a quick throw in.
The final 10 minutes of the first half would result in both teams receiving a red card as now they would be down to 10 players on the field for the remainder of the game.
After a foul in the box awarded Queens their first penalty kick of the season, Soto Gonzalez's chance to help Queens retake the lead would be denied before a shot off the corner kick was blocked in the 39
th minute of play.
Both teams would go into halftime tied at 1-1.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half would be a quiet faze with the Owls registering a shot on goal before a timely save from Iten kept the game tied at 1-1 in the 54
th minute of play.
But with the Knights limited on attacking opportunities, SCSU playing off a counterattack would take a 2-1 lead in the 68
th minute of play.
Almeida would get the first shot of the second half for Queens on the restart but his attempt would get blocked before red-junior
Jose Mendez (Queens, N.Y.) recorded the Knights' first shot on goal of the half but a timely save from the Owls would keep the home side ahead in the 69
th minute of play.
The Owls would put the game away in the 88
th minute of play to defeat the Knights to the final score of 3-1 Wednesday evening.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Soto Gonzalez recorded his team-leading fourth goal and eighth point of the year.
- Soto Gonzales recorded a team-high seven shots and three shots on goal.
- Cooke notched his team-leading third assist of the year and is second on the team with five points.
- Both teams combined for 28 shots with the Knights recording an 8-7 advantage on shots on goal.
- In goal, Iten recorded four saves in the game.
NEXT GAME
The Knights open East Coast Conference play in Rochester, N.Y. on Saturday, Sept. 21 as they match up against the Redhawks of Roberts Wesleyan University. Kick-off is set for 3:30 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).
