Injuries and inexperience shattered the young talented Knights’ second UPSL season

After ending their first season in the UPSL in second place, there was a lot to be expected from Astoria Knights F.C. but they lost a plethora of players and their youngsters’ low mental aspects proved to be costly.

Astoria Knights F.C. players sitting on the turf. Astoria Knights F.C. Images

Astoria Knights F.C. enjoyed a spectacular inaugural campaign in the United Premier Soccer League’s second division, finishing second in the Northeast Patriot Conference with an 8-2-2 record in the 2019 Spring season.

“It was a great experience for us,” Aldair Torres, a 25-year-old attacking midfielder who played in Peru’s top-flight said. “I personally felt very happy because we had little time to prepare together. We fought hard for that goal and maybe we could’ve done a little better.”

Jahvaughnie Johnson, the 2017 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, was stunned at how his club-team’s inaugural season turned out.

“Well, you know, ‘cause we were a new team, we were getting together for the first time so I didn’t expect us to do as good as we did,” Johnson said. “I know we had talents but I didn’t know that we were going to go so far.”

Astoria Knights F.C. striker Jahvaughnie Johnson stands in the middle.

After such a phenomenal first season, Astoria’s future looked bright. They were one team to keep an eye on in the UPSL. On a bad note, the team’s success in their season debut did play in their young players’ minds.

Johnson, who’s the captain of the club, explained that after such a stellar Spring season the players did lose motivation before the Fall campaign.

“I guess, the guys, I don’t know. They started dragging their feet. We did so well the first season. They thought the Fall season was going to be a walkover. We didn’t go in with the fight we had in the first season,” the Jamaican said.

On top of that the team lost 33 players during the off-season: 10 of them got injured while the other 23 joined other teams including keeper Youkendjy Paciusand, who signed a pro contract with NISA side Stumptown Athletic.

Astoria moved to the Northeast American Conference in the Fall, a conference that’s a bit harder. Some of the teams in that conference didn’t play in the Spring, which meant they were more rested than the Astoria players.

Furthermore, the league pushed the opening day of the Fall season back by a week, leaving AKFC with less time to prepare than expected.

It was just challenges after challenges, the Knights went into the season without a proper keeper, Shamare Gordon stepped in between the sticks.

Astoria’s first match of the season was against Santa Fe NY, they lost to them 2-1, then drew their second encounter, 0-0, with Long Island City F.C.

In the Knights’ third match of the season, they lost yet another player to injury. Torres, one of their key midfielders, sprained his knee in the fixture against New York Contour United.

“It hurt a lot,” the 25-year-old said. “At the moment of my injury I felt it was serious and I knew I would be away for a long time. I felt like I was disappointing my team, I knew they needed me and I couldn't be there to fight together. It was very hard to be out.”

Astoria Knights F.C. midfielder Aldair Torres.

Torres had to go on a wheelchair after his injury and didn't get back in action after three weeks. He’s one of the five players who got injured in the Fall. Mohamed El Gada suffered a broken nose, top scorer, Chris Valverde, broke his foot during a professional tryout and so on.

The Knights lost the match against New York Contour 7-1. The team tied the following game with New Jersey F.C., 0-0. But then they suffered two consecutive 5-0 losses to North Jersey Alliance F.C. and Allentown United F.C.

Head coach Kosi Jones highlighted that the scorelines doesn’t reflect the capabilities of his players.

“Honestly, I have not seen a team outclass us or outplay us. The results have not shown what our boys are capable of. Because even after losing some of our key players we still had enough of our backbone of a team,” Jones said.

After going three games without scoring, Jones gave the team the small goal of getting on the scoresheet. Astoria found the net against Long Island but lost the match 3-1. Then they scored three goals versus Santa Fe but their opponents netted three times as well to draw the match.

Two outings after their draw with Santa Fe, the young team scored the opener versus New York Contour but conceded three goals in the second half to lose the match, 3-1. It was a similar story in their next encounter against Allentown, AKFC had a 2-0 lead but then their opponents tallied three goals in the second half.

It was an irritating feeling to lose those games after taking the lead Johnson explained.

“It was becoming really annoying because it’s more than one game, even the last game we were winning 2-0 majority of the game until like the 80th minute. The other team came back and scored three goals. Just imagine. It’s not a good feeling,” the forward said.

Astoria is a developmental club, what really hurt them on the pitch is the players’ lack of experience as far as game management, concentration and game intelligence. For example, they conceded goals because their defenders were playing from the back, couldn’t hold on to the lead late in matches as mentioned and so on.

The talent is surely there but has been muffled because of the players’ low mental aspects, which is normal for youngsters.

“This is what separates the top tier players from the players who are trying to get to the top. The mental capacity of some of these players is not there,” coach Jones said.

“This is what it’s going to take for the players to get to the next level. I honestly believe I have at least eight players who are ready for the next level of professional football but if they go out there and that mental aspect is not there, it could be to their detriment.”

The club is planning to bring in sports psychologists to help the players mentally.

After their promising first season, Astoria ended the Fall campaign in last place with a 0W-3D-8L record. During this upcoming offseason, the Knights could lose about 10 players again. Since it’s a developmental club, they help their players find trials with teams at the higher level as in the USL and NISA.

Hence, losing players is something the club must get used to. Although they might have to tweak up their roster again for the next campaign, Jones is confident that his side will bounce back next season.

“I really don’t expect anything else than coming first next year,” the Trinidad and Tobago native said.

Jones coached two teams in Trinidad that had just started as well. Both sides successfully overcame rough seasons under him, one of them being Fyzabad Composite Secondary School.

“Challenge is nothing that I’m strange to and it’s nothing I will shy away from,” the Caribbean coach said. “I will work hard and I will be totally dedicated to the team until the end. We are going to be a team that everybody is going to talk about. I promise you guys this.”