Queens Advances to ASUN Championship Game - Queens University of Charlotte Athletics

Monday, November 9

Conway, Ark.

8:00 PM

Queens University of Charlotte

6-10-3, 2-3-3

#2 Central Arkansas

8-7-2, 5-2-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Queens (NC)	1	0	1
Central Ark.	0	0	0

Photo by: Lizzie Kuebler

11/9/2026 11:59:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Game Book

CONWAY, Ark. – Queens University of Charlotte Men's Soccer, playing with 10 men for 64 minutes of the match, outlasted the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears by a score of 1-0 to advance to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship game.

With the win, Queens is set to play number one seed North Florida on Saturday (Nov. 14) in Jacksonville, Florida at 7:00 p.m.

COACH'S CORNER
"We couldn't be prouder of our team and this historic victory," said Oliver Carias. "We were clinical in our execution and showed tremendous character, discipline, and resilience in a big moment, especially playing with 10 men for over 60 minutes. Our players demonstrated incredible commitment, togetherness, and tactical discipline throughout the entire 90 minutes. It was an outstanding team performance and a well-earned victory. Our coaching staff is extremely proud of this group and what they accomplished tonight."

NOTABLES

Central Arkansas outshot Queens 13 to five and won the corner kick battle 11 to three.
Matthew Bademian totaled four saves in the clean sheet win.
The Royals bounced back and defeated Central Arkansas after losing the regular season matchup 7-2.
Queens' defense held strong, playing with 10 men for 64 minutes after Cole Pumpian's red card in the 26th minute.
The win is Queens' second postseason Atlantic Sun Conference tournament win since joining the league.
A win on Saturday would be Queens' first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I school since last making it in 2019 as Division II.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Queens entered the match riding high off their 3-0 victory in the quarterfinals over third seed West Florida. It was an impressive all-around team performance that saw three different goal scorers in Iker Erazo, Enzo Resende, and Oliver Kneer. The Royals' ball movement was great as all three goals were assisted on.

Momentum stayed with Queens as in the fourth minute, Otto Gustafsoon launched a beautiful long ball to Cole Pumpian, who escaped the Central Arkansas defense and found the back of the net to give Queens an early 1-0 advantage.

Central Arkansas started to regain their momentum after a Queens corner kick resulted in a counterattack for the Sugar Bears. Finding space on the outside, a collision involving Cole Pumpian in the attacking third led to a yellow card. After review, it was upgraded to a red card resulting in Queens playing a man down for the remainder of the match.

Oliver Carias' squad regrouped and changed strategy to adjust. A defensive backline led by Otto Gustafsson and Jaiden Anderson, Queens did a great job of packing the box and limiting the scoring chances for Central Arkansas.

Matthew Bademian played well in goal, totaling four saves on the 11 shot attempts in the second half by Central Arkansas. Despite those 11 shots and eight corner kicks in the last 45 minutes, the Royals held on for the 1-0 win to advance to the Atlantic Sun Championship game.

NEXT UP
"We will take tomorrow to recover and recharge before shifting our full focus to preparing for our next challenge," continued Carias. "We are excited about the opportunity ahead of us."

Queens will face #1 seed North Florida on their home field on Saturday night (Nov. 14) at 8:00 p.m. (ET) in the ASUN Championship with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.