ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Looking to open East Coast Conference play on a strong and end a two-road game skid the Queens College men's soccer team matched up against the Redhawks of Roberts Wesleyan University at Redhawks Turf Field.
Queens opened the scoring before the Redhawks tied the game just before halftime, but three unanswered in the opening 20 minutes of the second half would lead the Knights to a 4-1 victory over the Redhawks Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Queens improves to 2-4 overall and starts ECC play with a 1-0 record. For the third year in a row, the Knights have opened conference play on a winning note.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Redhawks opened the first five minutes of play in their attacking half as they were able to earn a corner kick, but as Queens negated that opportunity they would respond on the counterattack as freshman
Kleverson Bolanos (Kew Gardens, N.Y) notched the first shot on goal in the eighth minute of play but would be denied by the Redhawks goalie.
As Queens continued to maintain possession of the ball, sophomore
Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) would put the Knights up 1-0 with a shot into the low right corner in the 21
st minute of play.
The Knights would continue to press but the Redhawks defense would limit the shots on goal opportunity for the visitors. Entering the final five minutes of the first half the Redhawks earned back-to-back free-kick opportunities, and would be awarded a penalty kick with 50 seconds left in the half. The home side would bury the chance and take a tie game into halftime.
Tied at 1-1 to begin the second half, the Knights kept the pressure on the Redhawks defense as graduate student
Carlos Almeida (Sao Paulo, Brazil) notched the first shot of the second half on target but would be denied in the 47
th minute of play.
In the 50
th minute of play, as junior
Harry Cooke's (Market Drayton, England) shot was denied on goal, senior
Joaquim Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would find junior
Kevin Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) for the connection who blasted a 20-yard shot into the low right corner to give Queens a 2-1 advantage.
Not looking to provide the Redhawk any opportunities to get back into the game, Almeida notched back-to-back assists as Cooke scored a brace in two minutes to give Queens a commanding lead of 4-1 after the 67
th minute of play.
Queens would keep the Redhawks off the shots total in the second half before closing out the game to earn their first ECC victory of the year for a 4-1 victory in Rochester.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Cooke paced the Knights' offense with a team-high four points with two goals.
- The junior has recorded five points in two games following his assist on Wednesday, Sept. 18 against SCSU.
- On the year Cooke has notched three goals and three assists for nine points.
- Soto Gonzalez recorded his team-leading fifth goal and 10th point of the year.
- Johnson recorded his second career goal and the first game-winning goal of his career.
- On the year Johnson has tallied two goals for four points.
- Almeida notched two assists to extend his team to four points and a team-high four assists.
- Joaquim Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded his first assist of the season.
- In goal, junior goalie Noris Iten (Sachseln, Switzerland) notched one save to earn his second career Knights win.
- Queens outshot Roberts Wesleyan 18-3 and held 11-2 shots on goal advantage.
- Soto Gonzalez recorded a team-high four shots and two shots on goal
- Cooke notched a team-high three shots on goals
- For the second straight season, the Knights offense recorded four goals against the Redhawks.
NEXT GAME
The Knights return to Flushing for a quick stop on Thursday, Sept. 26 as they welcome the Griffins of Chestnut Hill College in non-conference play. Kick-off is set for 7:00 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).
