Queens, N.Y.— The John Jay men’s soccer team lost a conference match at home on Wednesday evening as the Bloodhounds were defeated by York College, losing by a score of 2-1. The loss ends the Bloodhounds’ unbeaten conference record as they are now 3-1-1 in CUNYAC and 5-7-1 overall.
The Bloodhounds, playing in front of a packed and energetic crowd in a battle for first place, took the match right to the Cardinals. Early in the contest junior defender
Hiromi Karahashi (Kanagawa, Japan / St. Johnsburg) was fouled inside the penalty area and made York pay by drilling the penalty kick in the ninth minute of action to give the Bloodhounds the 1-0 advantage. The goal was his team-leading fifth of the season, and third in his last two games.
The lead lasted a little more than three and a half minutes as York tied the contest at the 11:44 mark of the opening half on a direct kick goal from more than 40 yards out by
Francisco Florez (Columbia, South America / Bryant). The ball found its way through a tiny opening between the hands of goalkeeper
Edwin Casas (Bogota, Colombia / South Side) and the crossbar.
Later in the half York grabbed the lead on a goal by Michel Nicolas (Port-au-Prince, Haiti / Newtown) in the 38th minute off an indirect kick by Ansel Bobb (Trinidad / St. Benedicts).
The goal proved to be the game winner as neither team scored the rest of the way.
The Bloodhounds had a chance to tie the contest in the second half. Arguably their best chance came in the final 15 minutes when
Andres Llanos (Flushing, NY / Newtown) and
Oscar Garcia (East Elmhurst, NY / St. John’s Prep) put shots on net several feet in front of the York goalkeeper
Kafui Kouakou (Togo, Africa / CTC Ora Labora), who cradled the ball in front of the crease.
John Jay, who had five corner kicks in the match, had three corner kicks in the second half, two of which came in the final 10 minutes of action.
For the game Kouaou made six saves, while Casas stopped seven shots for the Bloodhounds.
York recorded 15 shots to the Bloodhounds’ 14.
John Jay got a team-high four shots each from Llanos and
Daniel Vargas (Corona, NY / Arts and Business). Vargas had a team best three on net.
The Bloodhounds now stand in second place in conference play with three CUNYAC games remaining on the schedule.
John Jay returns to action on Sat. Oct. 6 for a home match with Medgar Evers College, 2 p.m. at the Metropolitan Oval.