Flushing, NY  |  The College of Staten Island Women's Soccer team traveled to Flushing, NY for their first-ever meeting with fellow CUNY program and future ECC rival Queens College this afternoon falling by a single goal, 2-1.  The Knights jumped out in front early scoring the first goal of the game in the thirteenth minute before making it a 2-0 lead in minute twenty-six.  However, the Dolphins did not go down quietly and got back within a single score on a Samantha LaValle second half goal.  This would be as close as CSI would get and the 2-1 score would hold until the final horn dropping the Dolphins to 3-4 while improving the Knights to 5-3.

The Knights dominated possession early in the game generating several scoring opportunities during the opening minutes.  When they finally did break through for the first time in the thirteenth minute, it was leading goal-scorer Victoria Ramirez who put Queens on the scoreboard with her fifth of the season to make it 1-0.  Ramirez, also the team's leader in assists with seven entering the day, wasn't finished making an impact on the final score as she would come up with her eighth helper of the season on the Knights second goal.  It was Sara Messemer who put her team ahead by two in the 26' with her first of the season and Queens appeared to have seized complete control at this point in the game.

Already in a 2-0 hole, things didn't get any better for the Dolphins in the minutes immediately following the Knight's second goal as a Natalia Sandor foul set up a Queens penalty kick.  It was Synne Flem who would look to make it a three-goal lead for the Knights, but she was denied on the penalty kick by Samantha Beaudreault.  It was this save that appeared to energize the Dolphins and shift momentum in their favor as they went on to limit the Knights to only two shots over the next twenty minutes after surrendering six through the first twenty-five.  CSI would also register their first two shot attempts of the match, both belonging to LaValle, but would fail to score before the intermission.

The Dolphins came out of the halftime break looking strong and ultimately pulled back to within a goal less than ten minutes into half number two.  It was LaValle's team-leading sixth of the season that cut the deficit in half in the 54', but the Dolphins would be without her for the final nineteen minutes after she left the game following a hard tackle down around the box.  This made things tough on a Dolphins attack that has relied heavily on LaValle's scoring and they were only able to muster two shots the rest of the way.  Unfortunately for the Dolphins, a late-game surge that culminated in the game's final shot by Gabrielle Chirco wasn't enough and the Knights held on for the 2-1 victory.

Though the final result was a one-goal Queens College win, they held a distinct advantage on the stat sheet.  They finished the match with a 13-5 lead in shots, 8-2 in shots on goal.  For the Knights it was Ramirez once again proving to be a game-changing difference-maker on the attack as she recorded another goal and an assist.  LaValle also proved to be of equal importance to the Dolphins as she added another goal to her team-leading total giving her six.

Up next for the Dolphins is a meeting with FDU-Florham on Wednesday with CSI looking for the first victory over the Devils in program history.  Kickoff will take place under the lights from Madison, NJ at 7 PM.