Box Score
Queens, N.Y.— The John Jay men’s soccer team was eliminated from conference tournament play as the Bloodhounds were defeated by New York City Tech, 2-1, in the quarterfinal round of the 2007 City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) men’s soccer tournament on Saturday. John Jay’s season ends with a 6-10-3 (4-2-2 CUNYAC) record.
The visiting Yellow Jackets, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, raced out to a 2-0 advantage to take control of the match.
New York City Tech got a pair of goals late in the first half to establish the cushion. The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the 35th minute on a penalty kick by Hugo Urgiles (Brooklyn, NY / Edward R. Murrow) after a John Jay foul in the penalty box.
The Bloodhounds then fell behind by two when moments later City Tech got another goal, this one came in the 42nd minute off the foot of Richar Lopez (Queens, NY / Grover Cleveland) to give the visitors a two goal lead at the intermission.
The score remained that way for much of the match. The Bloodhounds had numerous opportunities denied throughout the course of the final 45 minutes.
Hiromi Karahashi (Kanagawa, Japan / St. Johnsburg) was awarded a penalty kick early in the second half after a City Tech foul inside the penalty area. But Karahashi’s point blank shot was knocked aside by Yellow Jackets goalkeeper James Hidalgo (Queens, NY / Bryant) who had seven saves in the match. After the save Kamal Haruna (Accra, Ghana / Martin Luther King) header attempt off the rebound sailed over the goal as the Bloodhounds remained two goals down.
John Jay finally got on the board in the 81st minute on a header by freshman Oscar Gacia (East Elmhurst, NY / St. John’s Prep) off a free kick from Daniel Vargas (Corona, NY / Arts and Business) to cut the deficit in half.
Moments later the Bloodhounds appeared to have tied the game as Joceny Theresias (St. Louis-du-Nord, Haiti / Metropolitan) started on a breakaway on the near sideline and managed to trickle the ball past the Yellow Jacket keeper who unsuccessfully came out of the net to stop the shot. As the ball edged toward the net Haruna came from the weak side and stuffed it home, but was offsides as the would-be game tying goal was waived off.
John Jay continued to apply the pressure but could not get the equalizing goal between the pipes. With time expiring Steven Castillo (Maspeth, NY / Forest Hills) ripped a direct kick that was stopped short by Hidalgo, his seventh and final save of the match as the Yellow Jackets held on.
Kemar Brown (Kingston, Jamaica / Van Buren) made three saves in net for John Jay.
