CHARLESTON, W.Va. – In the First Round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament, Notre Dame College went up against Queens College, on Thursday afternoon. The Falcons scored in the 21st minute, but Queens put two on the scoreboard within four minutes in the second half and held on for a 2-1 victory.
 
The matchup pinned two very similar teams against each other.  The Falcons entered the day averaging 2.39 goals per game, while allowing just 1.1 goals per game. On the other side, QC was averaging 2.65 goals per game, while allowing an average of 1.6.
 
Notre Dame was on the attack and wanted to find the early goal. Sophomore Guilherme Wanderley, who made his first start since Oct. 4, took the first shot of the game in the second minute, and that went wide right. Three minutes later, freshman Alex Greaves set up for a free kick, outside of the 18, but in the middle of the field. He sent a line drive toward Queens' goal that was knocked down by goalkeeper Austin Matthews.
 
Queens had its first good look at the goal around the 21st minute. The Knights passed it three times to get the ball in open space on the right side of the box. Harry Cooke took a shot and NDC goalkeeper Danilo Abayo Wilson fell on top of the ball.
 
Immediately, the Falcons put up a counterattack. Wilson found Greaves and Greaves got to the midfield stripe before launching a pass up the field to sophomore Parker Bolin. Bolin entered the box with a defender running toward him from the right side, but the Falcons' striker sent the ball in with power and it ricocheted into the net to give Notre Dame the lead.
 
Notre Dame took the 1-0 lead into halftime. The Falcons outshot the Knights, 5-3, in the first 45 minutes.
 
The intensity started to pick up for both teams in the second half. Junior Callum Cleary sent a shot in, just over two minutes into the second stanza. Freshman Will Couch, who started the second half for NDC, also took a shot.
 
QC was able to find the back of the net in the 58th minute, following a corner kick. The ball entered the box and was headed back to Juan Gomez, who settled in and took a quick strike at the goal. The low shot got past the wall of defenders and Wilson could not see it in time to react.
 
Just over three minutes later, the Knights took possession and found some space in the attacking third. Leo Pinto passed to Cooke for the goal and Queens took the lead in the 61st minute.
 
Senior Carlos Almeida and Greaves each took a shot on target in the final thirty minutes, but the best chance at a goal was taken away on an offside call. With about six and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation, a free kick was sent into the box and two Falcons were in position to tie the match. As the ball was headed into the net, the call was made.
 
The Falcons' season comes to an end, but not before the program posted a second consecutive double-digit win season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time since 2012.