Flushing, N.Y. - The Queens College men’s soccer team opened Saturday’s game eerily similar to Thursday loss to Bentley.  Fortunately for the Knights, they managed to earn a result in a 1-1, double –overtime tie with West Chester in Flushing.  QC is now 0-1-1 on the year, while the Golden Rams completed their first game.

For the second straight game, the Knights were content to play defense early on, not pushing the ball forward until opportunities presented themselves.  In fact, the Golden Rams grabbed the lead in the ninth minute of the contest.  Freshman Miguel Ross had the ball on the right side and put a cross into the box where Connor Malary blasted it past Sean Geoghegan to put West Chester ahead, 1-0.

In the 16^th minute, the score was nearly doubled when Cameron Scott flicked a ball on net that hit the crossbar and careened to safety.  The score would remain at 1-0 until Queens got the equalizer late in the first half.

Freshman Lawrence Nikaj, who was playing in his first-ever collegiate game, took the ball down the right side and lifted a cross to the top of the 18-yard box where Jose Lopez blasted it past the keeper for the Knights’ goal.  The game was level at 1-1 at the half.

Also like Thursday’s matchup, QC pushed the play forward in the second half, resulting in several prime scoring chances.  The first opportunity came in the 50^th minute when Metri Abdul-Karim placed a long ball down the left side of the pitch trying to connect with a sprinting Lopez.  The ball was a little long and scooped up by Golden Rams’ goalie, Phil Horan.

The Knights had a chance to win the game in the 86^th minute, and it came from team captian, Abdul-Karim.  From the left side of the pitch, the midfielder took a Scott Lamont cross into the center of the 18-yard box and kicked a knuckler along the ground that Horan adeptly saved to turn aside the goal.  The game ended regulation at 1-1.

The first overtime provided little scoring chances for either side until the Golden Rams grabbed possession with just over a minute remaining.  Heading just inside the goalie box, Tommy Ryan blasted a shot to the lower-right corner of the net, but Queens goalie, Geoghegan, dove to his right and made a game-saving catch; helping to force a second overtime.

In the second extra frame, head coach Carl Christian brought in a few fresh players to bring energy to the pitch.  The players who came on included James Dukas, Navdeep Baines and Lopez.  The substitutions paid dividends immediately as Dukas went on a run down the left side and centered the ball to Tyler Iocco who blasted a shot that Horan had to make a save against.  The final chance for the Knights came when Aitor Gurrutxaga got the ball in the box and blasted a shot that was blocked by the defense.  The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Knights earned the point with the tie and they will look for their first win of 2013 when they face New Haven on Tuesday, September 10, at 4:00 PM.

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