On Thursday, October 17th, the Hawks played a home game against the Metropolitan Campus Knights. With second place on the line, the Knights came out on top 1-0.
Both teams came out with strong defensive play, and it was apparent that whoever scored first would win the game. The Hawks’ offense looked to be better for the first thirty minutes, as they held the ball for more time, and had more shots on goal. However, in the 31st minute, the Knights found an opening in the Hawks’ defense and they capitalized as Metropolitan Campus scored the game’s first and only goal, giving them the 1-0 lead.
The game remained 1-0 going into halftime, and in the second half, desperation started to settle in for the Hawks as they knew a loss would be detrimental. This desperation quickly turned into fouls, as both Senior Mateusz Chrobak and Sophomore Tiarnan Mathers each received yellow cards late in the game.
Senior Michael Jazgarski said, “when someone on our team is down, the whole team takes a hit.”
In the final few minutes, the Hawks again showed signs of life, as they came very close to scoring the equalizer multiple times. As the final whistle blew, the Knights celebrated their victory, and the Hawks left the field very disappointed after the loss.
Michael said “Our team lost because we weren’t hyped.”
Senior Rafal Chudzik also added “Lack of confidence was a major problem since we possessed the ball for the majority of the game.
This was the Hawks’ final game at Kissena Corridor Park, and the final regular season game at Kissena for all 12 of the Hawks’ seniors. The Hawks finished with two wins and 3 losses at Kissena this year.
This was also the first game since October 7th for Senior and Co-Captain Mateusz Chrobak following a 2 game suspension for receiving a red card. On the game, Mateusz said, “All the good things we did are irrelevant because at the end of the day we were scoreless.”
The Hawks are in third place in the Queens B III Division, now with 4 wins, 5 losses, and 2 ties. The Hawks now trail Metropolitan Campus by 4 points, and they are still 5 points behind High School for Arts & Business. With two games left, the Hawks cannot afford to lose another game or else they will not make the playoffs.
The next game for the Hawks is Saturday, October 19th at 10:00 AM against Robert F. Wagner Jr. at Francis Lewis High School. The Hawks must either win or tie in this game to even be able to qualify for the “B” Division playoffs.
Mateusz said “All we can do is build off our intensity and play an even better game on Saturday to keep our playoff hopes alive.”
