PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Wrapping up their two-match road stand, the Queens College men's soccer team traveled to Pleasantville, New York, for a non-conference clash against the Pace University Setters at Northwell Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Highlighted by five different goal scorers in rookie defender
Kasper Schie (Kristiansand, Norway) senior forward
Harry Cooke (Market Drayton, England) game-winning goal
, rookie forward
Bradyn Brown (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) first career hat trick, redshirt-junior forward
Tommy Gunn (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and senior forward
David Akpan (Brentwood, N.Y.), the Knights would dominate from the first kick to earn a 7-1 victory over the Setters.
MATCH RECAP
The Knights wasted no time in putting the Setters under pressure as the home side picked up two early fouls. Queens opened the scoring in the eighth minute of play as junior forward
Miguel Soto Gonzalez (Madrid, Spain) delivered a cross for Schie to head home the goal for an early 1-0 lead.
As the Knights negated a Pace corner kick in the 11
th minute of play, Queens would be denied their second goal of the half as junior forward
Jason Udo (Bronx, N.Y.) shot on goal was saved in the 13
th minute.
In the 17th minute, with Soto Gonzalez weaving a web around defenders, the junior forward spun his magic for the second time on the night by delivering a perfectly timed through ball to Cooke, who slipped past Pace's goalie on the left side to stretch the lead to 2-0.
The Setters earned their first shot on goal in the 29th minute, but a timely save from redshirt sophomore goalie
Thanasis Shehadeh (Nicosia, Cyprus) would keep the Knights' 2-0 lead intact.
After a quiet spell for the Knights, Queens closed out the final seven minutes of the first half as Gunn, making his season debut, set up Brown in the 39th minute to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
As Shehadeh made back-to-back saves to keep the Setters off the scoreboard before Queens extended their lead to 4-0 in the 43rd minute. Graduate forward
Cillian Heaney (Westport, Ireland) battled past several defenders before delivering a through ball to Gunn, who finished with a precise tap into the bottom left corner.
In the second half, Brown completed his first career hat trick by scoring twice in the 56th and 67th minutes, extending the lead to 6-0. Akpan closed out the scoring for the Knights with his first goal of the season in the 72nd minute, securing a 7-0 advantage.
The Setters avoided the shutout by scoring in the 86th minute to officially close out the scoring, as the Knights secured a convincing 7-1 victory to start the week.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Cooke recorded his team-leading fifth goal and second game-winning goal of the year to extend his points tally to 10.
- Rookie Schie recorded his first career goal and points of the year.
- Rookie Brown recorded his first career hat trick, earning a career-high six points, and extended his season total to nine points with four goals and one assist.
- It would be an excellent season debut for Gunn as the forward tied a career-best four points with one goal and two career assists.
- Akpan recorded his first two points of the year with his first goal of the season.
- Soto Gonzalez extended his points tally to a team-best 12 with two assists as he leads the Knights with four goals and four assists.
- Heaney and senior forward Arvin Pereira (Westbury, N.Y.) tallied their first two points of the year as they combined for four assists.
- In goal, Shehadeh earned his third victory of the year, while redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Zach Bittner (Middletown, DE) made his season debut playing the final 18:02 of the match.
- The Knights outshot the Setters 12-7, 8-4 shots on goal.
NEXT MATCH
The Knights will open their second three-match homestand of the season on Saturday, Sept. 20, as they host the Saints of D'Youville University at Knights Field in East Coast Conference action. Kickoff is set for 2:30 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).
