The Queen’s Men’s Soccer team has secured their first win of the season.
The Gaels defeated the Carleton Ravens at Richardson Stadium by a score of 3-0 on Sept. 11, picking up their first win of the season in the process. The victory avenges a 1-0 road defeat the team suffered against the Ravens to begin their season on Aug. 30.
Despite the final scoreline, it was Carleton who had the early jump in the game, using their speed to create scoring chances while the Gaels had a hard time connecting on passes. However, the Ravens were unable to find the back of the net, and Queen’s was able to build a momentum towards the latter part of the first half.
Despite several chances for each team, the first half ended with no goals in a 0-0 tie.
Then came the second half.
Immediately, Queen’s drew a penalty just inside the six-yard box. Forward Damola Akanni, ArtSci ’29, then proceeded to deposit the ball into the top-left corner on the ensuing penalty kick to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead at the 48-minute mark.
Instead of sitting back, the team continued to press, adding to their lead shortly after. In the 54th-minute, Akanni passed the ball into the box where forward Isaac Molouba, ArtSci ’30, tapped it into the left side to double the Gaels’ lead.
Not even five minutes after that, the team would strike again. Midfielder Jacob Spizziri, Artsci ’29, crossed the ball into the left side of the box where defender Josh Crete, ArtSci ’28, headed it into the top-right corner of the goal, giving the Gaels a commanding 3-0 lead at the 57-minute mark. The three goals came in a span of nine minutes.
With a comfortable lead, the team wisely opted for a more defensive system, suffocating the Ravens the rest of the way and allowing very few scoring chances. When the final whistle blew, the team had secured a 3-0 win, with goalie Ryan Spaans, ArtSci’ 29, securing the two-save shutout.
After the game, The Journal caught up with head coach Kasy Kiarash to talk about his team’s strong performance.
“What we’ve been working on all week, we saw it on the field today” Kiarash said. “The effort was number one, and the focus, the mental resilience really showed today […]. It’s tough to a get a shutout here against a great team, but our guys were up for it.”
The head coach was also delighted that many of his players got into the game after the team built its 3-0 lead.
“We had every single sub go on the field, and our finishing team was fantastic and closed the game out for us,” Kiarash commented.
Despite the early season struggles prior to the Carleton game, Kiarash wasn’t too concerned, seeing the results as a “lesson” in which his team can grow from.
“I think sometimes you learn more form your losses. […] What we did is we took all those lessons we learned, and we put them into a week of training, and that’s why we’re here with a victory today,” he said.
The Gaels couldn’t replicate their success during Sunday’s game against Toronto Metropolitan University. After taking a 1-0 lead into halftime on a goal by David Gambrah, ArtSci ’30, the Gaels conceded four unanswered goals in the second half, ultimately losing by a score of 4-1.
The loss puts the team at a record of 1-3-1. They will look to bounce back this upcoming weekend when they take on rivals across the Cataraqui River, the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins. Kickoff on Sept. 19 is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Navy Bay Field.
Tags
OUA, Queen's men's soccer, richardson stadium
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to eic@queensjournal.ca.