Charles Crichlow and championship-game Most Valuable Player, Richmond McCarthy scored in the first five minutes of the second half Monday night at the Metropolitan Oval, as the Borough of Manhattan Community College broke a scoreless tie with a dominating 13-1 shot advantage in the latter stanza, and the Panthers won their fifth-consecutive title with a 2-0 victory over Queensborough Community College.
The final outcome was the same as when the teams met during the regular season at the Met Oval, Sept. 11.
The two teams played a fairly even first half, with Queensborough (6-5-1) outshooting BMCC (8-4-1) by a 7-6 count. However, both defenses were up to the task, with QCC’s Giancarlo Casanova and the Panthers’ Yessid Nijim making three saves apiece in the 45-minute stanza.
But head coach Kenichi Yatsuhashi’s BMCC squad came out with a vengeance in the second half, with Crichlow breaking through down the right channel and rifling a shot past Casanova less than one minute into the frame to give his squad the lead for good. Ironically, Yatsuhashi had planned to use Crichlow’s speed down the right flank before halftime commenced.
“I brought Charles on to break down their defensive shell (in the 35th minute),” said the coach. “We knew getting the first goal to start the second half was a key.”
Then in the 50th minute of action, the Panthers earned one of their five corner kicks on the night towards the west end of the stadium. After the ball deflected twice in the penalty area, it found its way to McCarthy, a central defender by trade, who blasted the ball into the netting to double the BMCC edge.
Queensborough’s best chance came in roughly the 68th minute, David Lawrence broke into the right channel of the penalty area alone against Nijim. However, though his chip towards Nijim’s far right post was destined for the corner of the net to slice the Tigers’ deficit in half, the play was blown dead when another QCC attacker had the ball glance off his hand on the way in.
This story is courtesy of the City University of New York Athletic Conference.
