Firstly, I must apologise for not posting in a while. College really starts to get real in your Junior year!
Aside from schoolwork and midterms I have been very busy with an internship in Manhattan, and of course with soccer, as the end of the season closes in and the competition starts to heat up. I hope I haven’t kept anyone in suspense following my last post on the eve of our match against Dowling College, but I will begin this one with good news.
On Saturday October 8th, we beat Dowling 2-0 in a match we truly deserved to win. Ever since I arrived at Queens, Dowling has been somewhat of a grudge match due to their success and reputation on the national stage of division II soccer, and furthermore because they beat us 5-1 in the semi-final of the conference championship at the end of my first season. Despite that lopsided result, we have always held our own against them and last year tied them 0-0 in a season in which they reached the ‘Final Four’ of the national tournament. Needless to say we were incredibly motivated for this match, and started it as we meant to continue, with heart and determination.
We played very well, and surprised them with some well-constructed attacks and a solid defensive effort. As our coach, a fellow Brit and alumnus of Queens College, always says, “They can’t beat you if they don’t score.” This simple statement has been something around which we built following our 3-0 loss to Saint Anselm back in September, and it has made us into a team that has been very hard to beat ever since.
In truth, this Dowling team was not as strong as those I played against in my previous two seasons. They lacked the heart, desire and quality that has been the cornerstone of their success over the last decade, and genuinely lacked confidence against our hard-working and aggressive approach. Don’t get me wrong, they were still no pushovers, and had most of their championship-winning squad members on the pitch. We were simply the better team. It was a fantastic day for everyone involved (except Dowling of course), and reminded us just how far we had come from our early struggles, and where we could take this season if we kept improving.
The Dowling game was the first of four games we would play that week.
Monday saw us square off against Mercy College in a rescheduled game that had been postponed a week or two before due to bad weather. We came away with a hard-earned and somewhat fortunate 1-0 victory. Another fantastic result against a tough opponent with some very talented players. We defended for the majority of the game after taking the lead off a corner early in the first half, and prevailed through some honest defending and intelligent teamwork. Another shutout (or clean sheet, as we say back home), and another step towards the playoff positions at the top of the conference standings.
After a rest on Tuesday, we headed to East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, for a non-conference match under the lights on a cold and wet evening. It ended 0-0, but could have gone either way. Both teams had some great chances and a little bad luck in game that didn’t reflect its scoreless result. Either way, we earned another clean sheet, and were able to gain some practice and experience on a turf field in preparation for our visit to the New York Institute of Technology on Saturday.
NYIT were perhaps the best team we have played all season, in terms of their attractive soccer and hard working defensive play. However, our own defence had not given up a goal in over 5 hours coming into this game, and we were somewhat unfortunate to go behind during the first half to a penalty. In the second period we won a penalty of our own, which I was very relieved to score, as their keeper got a finger to it. In heartbreaking fashion, we lost the game with just under four minutes remaining in regulation. We were caught on the counter-attack and exposed by a fine run and finish from their number 10. A win or tie in this match would have seen us all but qualified for the playoffs, so we were understandably devastated. We had to move on however, and prepare for the next week’s visit of C.W.Post, a team ranked 3rd int the country and undefeated so far this season.
C.W. Post was yesterday. I couldn’t bring myself to write this post last night. But the pain has left me and I’m feeling a little more philosophical than I was after the final whistle. We lost 3-1, but could have won it just as easily, after leading from an early goal until the 66th minute, when the game was flipped on its head. We both had players sent off, and it was a rather ill-tempered affair made no better by, in my opinion, some poor refereeing. They were clearly a good side, but were caught slightly off guard by our aggression and the state of our field, which makes the Rocky Mountains look decidedly flat. We played well and with heart, but in the end it wasn’t enough to keep us in the game. We left everything on the field yesterday, and I believe this loss has made us stronger.
We have one game left this Saturday, against Bridgeport University. Essentially, we must win to make the playoffs. A tie or loss would almost certainly see us fall short. It doesn’t get any better than this, and without wanting to sound corny, our destiny is in our own hands. With the women’s team standing in a similar position, this weekend is sure to be a dramatic one for Queens College soccer.
For anyone who might want to come and watch, the women’s match begins at 11:30 and the men’s at 2pm. Your support would be much appreciated!
Also, for anyone interested, here is an article about our coach and the recent fixture against NYIT.
