After a 1-0 victory against the division-leading High School for Arts & Business, the boys soccer teeam had another home match against the Grover Cleveland Tigers on September 30. In this game, however, the Hawks came out flat, getting shutout 4-0.
The two sides started off evenly matched, as each defense proved to be strong for the first thirty minutes of the match. However, the Hawks’ troubles started in the 33rd minute when they committed a handball in the box, giving Grover Cleveland a penalty kick. The Tigers capitalized, and took the 1-0 lead.
From there, the Hawks continued to struggle, as the Tigers scored just two minutes later in the 35th minute, giving them a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
On the first half of the game, Senior Mateusz Chrobak said “We could’ve capitalized early when we controlled the play and then we would’ve set the tempo for the game.”
The second half continued to be difficult for the Hawks, as the Tigers scored twice more, in the 55th minute and 66th minute, giving the Tigers a commanding 4-0 lead which they would hold onto win the game.
Senior Brandon Betsch commented on the team’s offensive struggles, “We need to stop hesitating and rely on our instincts when making our plays.”
The Hawks only got off six shots on goal compared to 19 shots on goal by the Tigers. The Hawks also committed eleven fouls during the game. These fouls proved costly as they allowed the Tigers to take over and really take time off the clock when they wanted to.
Sophomore Tiarnan Mathers said “We just have to fix some things to recover from the loss and get back on track.”
Even though Grover Cleveland is not in the Hawks’ division, this loss still proved to be costly. The Hawks are currently in third place in the Queens B III Division, with two wins, two losses, and two ties for a total of eight points. They are trailing division leading High School for Arts & Business, who have twelve points.
The Hawks’ season continues Wednesday, October 2nd, as they travel to Victory Field to face off against a divisional opponent, Richmond Hill. For the Hawks to win this game, Mateusz added that they need “to move on. QW just have to go into Wednesday’s game with confidence and full effort.”
Brandon also added “We can get a W if we improve our team’s offense.”
A win would prove vital for the Hawks, as it would put them right back into the mix of the division leaders.
