FLUSHING, N.Y. – Making a quick stop in Flushing Thursday evening before traveling to Buffalo the Queens College men's soccer team welcomed the Griffins of Chestnut Hill College to Knights Field for a non-conference contest.
The Knights wasted no time scoring as they scored four goals in the first half led by junior
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England), sophomore
Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain), senior
Joaquim Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and freshman
Bastian Engeli (Bergen, Norway) before the duo of Cooke and Soto Gonzalez combined for three goals in the second half as Queens earned a 7-0 shutout victory over the Griffins.
With the win, Queens improved to 3-4 overall on the year. The Knights earned their third straight victory over Chestnut Hill and lead the All-Time series 4-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Queens went to work from the first whistle as sophomore
Andrew Johnson (Oakdale, N.Y.) recorded a shot in the sixth minute of play only for it to sail out top. After an offside called another attacking opportunity for the Knights in the eighth minute of play, Queens would take a 1-0 lead in the 10
th minute of play as the sophomore Johnson delivered a through ball for Cooke to blast a right-foot shot into the bottom right corner for the opening goal of the game.
The Knights would double their advantage just two minutes later as red-shirt junior
Eyob Gaffigan (Walkersville, MD) delivered a through ball to Soto Gonzalez before the sophomore sent a 19-yard blast into the bottom left corner for a 2-0 lead in the 12
th minute of play.
The Griffins would get their first chance at a goal in the 13
th minute of the play but the shot would sail out right before Queens capitalized on a corner kick as graduate student
Carlos Almeida (Sao Paulo, Brazil) delivered the cross from the right corner for the senior Johnson to head home the goal into the bottom right corner.
Staying on the attack Cooke would record his first assist of the game as he played a through ball for Engeli to send home the fourth goal of the first half from seven yards out into the middle of the net in the 20
th minute of play.
The Knights would outshoot the Griffins 9-2 in the first half as they took a 4-0 lead into halftime.
Sophomore goalie
Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) making his first career start would face his first shot on goal in the 55
th minute of play but a timely from the sophomore goalie would keep the Knights advantage at 4-0.
As the Griffins attempted their first shot on goal, the Knights would respond as they were led by the duo of Cooke and Soto Gonzalez to extend their lead and officially put the game out of reach.
Sophomore
Jason Udo (Bronx, N.Y. ) found Cooke for the initial shot but a timely save from the Griffins would deny Cooke the brace, however, Soto Gonzalez would be in the right spot at the time for the sophomore to record his brace as Queens took a 5-0 lead in the 57
th minute of play.
Just two minutes later Soto Gonzalez would find Cooke who recorded his second straight brace with a shot from 15 yards out into the bottom right corner for a 6-0 lead.
As Shehadeh recorded his second save of the half, Queens on the counterattack would close out the scoring in the 77
th minute of play as Udo recorded his first career assist as he delivered a through ball for Cooke to complete his hat-trick with a shot from 16 yards out into the bottom right corner as Queens recorded their seventh goal of the game.
Queens would close out the remaining 13 minutes of play without any pressure as they earned a 7-0 shutout victory and a consecutive clean sheet at home.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Cooke paced the Knights' offense with a career-high performance of eight points with his hat-trick in Knights uniform and two assists.
- The junior has recorded 13 points in the last three goals notching five goals and three assists.
- On the year Cooke has notched six goals and five assists for a team-high 17 points.
- Soto Gonzalez recorded a career-best performance with his second career brace to go with his first career assist.
- On the year the sophomore leads the Knights with a team-high seven goals and one assist for 15 points.
- Engeli recorded his first career goal and extended his tally to three points to go with one assist.
- The senior Johnson recorded his fourth career goal and first goal of the year.
- As a team, the Knights recorded seven assists led by a team-high two from Cooke, while Soto Gonzalez, Almeida, sophomore Johnson, Gaffigan, and Udo recorded the other five assists.
- In goal, Shehadeh notched two saves to earn his first career win and earned a complete game shutout.
- Queens outshot Chestnut Hill 19-5 and held 11-2 shots on goal advantage.
- Cooke recorded a team-high nine shots and six shots on goal.
- Soto Gonzalez notched three shots on goal.
NEXT GAME
The Knights return to East Coast Conference play with a weekend trip to Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Sept. 28 as they match up against the Saints of D'Youville University. Kick-off is set for 1:00 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).
