Box Score FLUSHING, N.Y. (Sept. 19, 2015) – The Molloy College men's soccer team opened their 2015 East Coast Conference campaign with a 4-3, double-overtime defeat at the hands of Queens College on Saturday in Flushing. The loss drops Molloy to 3-2 on the season, while Queens improves to 1-3 this fall.
The maroon and white came out firing quickly as for the second consecutive game, the Lions had a shot within the first 25 seconds of action. The effort came off the foot of junior
Kyle Poetzsch (Hicksville, N.Y.), but the attempt never reached the goal and sailed wide. A flurry of shots followed from both sides, beginning with an eighth-minute shot by Knights senior midfielder Isaiah Kossinne (London, England) that was swallowed up by sophomore keeper
Stephen Tappeto (Merrick, N.Y.). Not two minutes later, the Lions were denied by the woodwork as red-shirt senior
Lester Franco (Bay Shore, N.Y.) crackled his shot off of the post. Several more chances would either get blocked or go wide for the Lions and the game seemed destined to go into the halftime break as a nil-nil skirmish until the 44
th minute of action. Queens received a corner kick and the ball found its way into the box off the boot of senior middie Glen Reid (Falkirk, Scotland). Freshman swing-man Andras Breuer (Budapest, Hungary) played a cross onto the head of senior back Aitor Gurruchaga (Pamplona, Spain) and his header found its way to the netting on the left-side post to give the home side a one-goal lead going into the break.
In the second half, the Knights would tack on another goal as Gurruchaga converted on another corner kick. His second header goal of the afternoon came on an in-swinger from junior midfielder Nicholas Mausewicz (Flushing, N.Y.), and the Spanish back was rewarded with a brace for his expertly marked header into the right side netting. Molloy, however, would begin to mount a comeback not two minutes later. Sophomore forward
Lucas Munoz (Hicksville, N.Y.) tucked away a ball passed on by senior back
Ryan Fackner (North Babylon, N.Y.) in the 54
th minute of action. Munoz's second goal of the season cut the lead to one, but as quickly as the Lions scored a goal, Queens answered with a tally of their own. The Knights took a 3-1 lead just past the 56-minute mark of the contest as Mausewicz sent a free kick onto the head of senior Calvin Moyes (Glasgow, Scotland) and the ball was placed well inside the top right corner of the net.
The maroon and white would dig deep to find their mettle and overcome a two-goal deficit, and the Lions battled back just before the 70
th minute to cut the lead back to one. Off of a perfect feed from Franco, junior midfielder
Joshua Zapata (West Babylon, N.Y.) went streaking towards the ball in the Queens College defensive zone and slotted a shot into the lower right corner. Zapata's first goal of the season made it a 3-2 game, and the Lions would equalize with six minutes and forty seconds to play in regulation. The match-leveling goal came off of a set piece and required expert marksmanship from all players involved, as senior middie
Stephen Polimeni (Bellmore, N.Y.) sent a free kick screaming into the Knights' 18-yard box. The ball was first headed on by junior midfielder
Lucio Sorto (Baldwin, N.Y.) before a flick on by sophomore back
Dale McNevin (Centereach, N.Y.) tickled the twine in the back of the net. McNevin's first goal of the year gave the Lions new life and a new vote of confidence heading into the waning moments of regulation, with the score tied at 3.
In the first overtime frame, Poetzsch nearly duplicated his heroics from the team's 3-2 victory over Caldwell just over a week ago. The junior forward took a shot in the first minute of added time that was saved by junior net-minder James Brostowski (Lindenhurst, N.Y.). The Lions would scratch and claw with the Knights for the first overtime period but could not settle the score. However, Molloy would be forced to play the second session of extra time with just 10 men on the field following the issuing of a red card to Munoz in the 100
th minute of play.
Momentum shifted to the home side in the second overtime as Kossinne got the first shot on goal in the 101
st minute, but Tappeto made the save to keep the game level. It would stay that way until the 107:51 mark of the contest, when the Knights converted on another free kick and a header sent in by Mausewicz with an assist to Reid.
The Lions fought valiantly all the way to the end of the contest, as evidenced by the statistical breakdown between the two teams. Both squads had 17 shots in the game, while Queens took just two more corners (8-6) than Molloy. Tappeto made five saves in net for the maroon and white and Poetzsch led the way with nine shots credited to his number in the contest. Three of those efforts were on goal, the most of any Lions' player and tied for the most in the game with Queens' Gurruchaga.
The Molloy College men's soccer team will host non-conference opponent Philadelphia at 3 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 24) in Rockville Centre. If you cannot make the game, be sure to follow along with live stats and a live broadcast feed on
www.MolloyLions.com.
