SPARKILL, N.Y. – Opening a two-match road swing Wednesday afternoon, the regionally-ranked No. 5 Queens College men's soccer team traveled to Sparkill, New York, for an East Coast Conference (ECC) matchup against the St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans at Spartan Field.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Knights looked to mount a second-half comeback, but two second-half goals from the Spartans extended the deficit as Queens fell, 3-0, Wednesday afternoon.
The Knights move to 8-4-1 overall and 2-2 in ECC play.
MATCH RECAP
The Knights looked to set the tempo early, as senior
Andrew Johnson fired a shot high in the third minute.
St. Thomas Aquinas responded in the seventh minute, but sophomore goalkeeper
Stian Haugland came up with a timely save to keep the match scoreless.
The home side opened the scoring in the 25th minute, taking a 1-0 lead.
Queens continued to battle defensively to keep the deficit at one, as Haugland recorded another save in the 27th minute before the Knights' defense blocked back-to-back shots in the 28th and 29th minutes.
Following a free kick in the 30th minute, graduate student
Anton Mand put a header on target, but the Spartans' goalkeeper made the save. Johnson followed with a shot on target in the 33rd minute that was blocked.
In the 43rd minute, senior
Keithlend Cesar had his shot blocked as the Knights entered halftime trailing 1-0.
Just 26 seconds into the second half, the Spartans doubled their lead to take a 2-0 advantage.
Looking to cut into the deficit, the Knights worked to regain control of the tempo, but shots from junior
Kleverson Bolanos and sophomore
Taro Aboubakary were blocked.
St. Thomas Aquinas added an insurance goal in the 76th minute to extend its lead to 3-0.
Over the final 15 minutes, Queens generated four shots on target, but each attempt was turned away as the Spartans' goalkeeper made four saves to preserve the 3-0 victory over the Knights.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Queens was outshot, 15-13, by STAC, including a 7-6 edge for the Spartans in shots on goal.
- Johnson, Bolanos and senior Jason Udo combined for seven shots and three shots on goal.
- Haugland finished with four saves in goal.
NEXT MATCH
Queens wraps up its two-match road swing on Saturday, Oct. 10, when the Knights travel to Amherst, N.Y., to face Daemen University. Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.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).
