ORANGEBURG, N.Y. – Opening the 2026 season on the road for the first time since the 2023 season, the Queens College men's soccer team was led by senior
Tommy Wagner and sophomore
Taro Aboubakary second half goals as the Knights earned a 2-0 victory over Dominican University of New York Chargers at O'Brien Field.
With the victory and for the second straight season, the Knights open the new year on a positive note.
MATCH RECAP
In a match that saw 24 total fouls, 10 yellow cards raised, it would be the Knights that would dominate possession throughout the 90 minutes of play.
In the first half, Queens would outshoot the Chargers 6-1 but were unlucky to find the back of the net.
The Knights wasted no time pressuring the Chargers as they recorded three shots in the opening 13 minutes of the contest with senior
Andrew Johnson notching two shots, while Aboubakary shot was denied by the Chargers goalie in the seventh minute of play.
The chargers recorded their lone shot of the first half in the 14 minute of play, but it would sail wide.
Queens would continue to keep the offensive pressure going as they searched for the first goal of the match.
With 3:33 left in the first half, the match would halted for hour and half due to lightning.
Following a quick halftime, Queens stayed on the press with sophomore
Marko Borovic shot sailing high just 31 seconds into the restart.
Senior goalie
Thanasis Shehadeh would make his first save of the contest in the 60th minute of play to deny the Chargers the goal scoring opportunity.
As the Knights kept the Chargers out of their offensive half, Queens broke through in the 67th minute of play as Johnson delivered a through ball for Wagner to put past the goalie and a 1-0 lead.
Over the final 25 minutes of the contest, the Knights held the Chargers without a shot before Aboubakary recorded his first goal in a Knights uniform in the 87th minute and give Queens a 2-0 victory to open the 2026 season.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Queens outshot Dominican 23-2, including a 17-1 shots margin in the second half.
- The Knights recorded nine shots on goals with Aboubakary recording a team-high three shots goals on goal.
- Wagner and Aboubakary combined for four points with Wagner recording his fourth career goal and first career game-winning goal.
- Johnson recorded the lone assist in the contest and fifth of his career.
- Shehadeh recorded one save and earned his 14th career shutout and 23rd career win.
NEXT MATCH
Queens welcomes No. 4 Southern New Hampshire University Penmen (1-0) to town Saturday, Aug. 29 to conclude the opening week of play. The Penmen enter Flushing with a 1-0 record following their 3-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill. Kick-off is set for 7:00 pm.
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).
