MASPETH, NY --- The Brooklyn Knights dominated tonight’s Northeast Division contest against the New Jersey Rangers 4-0 at the Met Oval. The Knights got a plethora of goals and saw netminder Chris Antonino collect his 2nd shut-out of the season.
In the first half the Knights got on the board in the 33rd minute as Frank Alesci drew the Rangers defense and goalie to him as he fed Matia Damiani for his 3rd goal of the season. Minutes later captain Jeff Matteo was issued a yellow card after referee Haken Bayderf, disliked the captians attitude on the field. As the half clock ran down Sotorios Demitrakopolis recieved a yellow after a late slide takle.
In the second half, the Knights had no mercy for the Rangers who the had previously defeated 2-1 at the end of May scoring three goals. After the Rangers goalie was called for touching the ball outside the box; Hamir Niebles blasted a free kick past goalie Christian Iordanou.
Elevan minutes later the Knights once again scored on an attack as Peter Halkidis scored off a rebound shot. For Halkidis this would be his second goal in the Knights four game unbeaten streak.
As the game ended the Knights recieved an insurance goal from Massimo Alessandro, conecting off a Frank Alesci pass for his second assist of the night. Alessandro, an import from Inter Milan youth team has scored in back-to-back contests for the Knights.
"I think we back to playing Knights Soccer once again, commented coach Balsamo after the 4-0 victory. "We played hard and played as a team. Our upcoming games (Long Island & Westchester) are critical for our season."
The Knights outshot the Rangers 9-4 in the contest as Antonino stopped all four shots.
This contest marked the return of defenseman Javier Gonzales after his once game absence to represent the Venezuela National Team in two friendly competitions this past week. However Gonzalez didnt not play in the International friendly vs. Mexico on Friday in Atlanta, he did play a few minutes in Costa Rica against a team from that country.
The Knights will be on the road for the final three out of four contests with the final regular season game taking place on Wed. July 15th against Ocean City at 8:00 PM
