Another Mashriqi comes to the forefront

For years, Mohammad Mashriqi was the other cousin, in the shadows of Mohammad and Didi. In 2004, Mohammad led the PSAL in scoring. The next season, Didi guided Flushing to their first ever PSAL Class A finals appearance as the younger Mohammad, a sophomore at the time, was just a part-time midfielder.
But this year, he is the last Mashriqi left, the senior leader on a youthful team. Mashriqi doesn't have the pure scoring ability of the elder Mohammad or the spellbinding athleticism like Didi. But he still knows how to score from his striker position. His 21st-minute tally lifted the Red Devils to their biggest win of the year, a 1-0 shutout at Long Island City, one of the borough's top clubs. &#8220I was always looking up to them,” he said of his older cousins. &#8220It's great to be mentioned with them.”
After flubbing an early attempt from the top of the box, Mohammad maneuvered between a pair of LIC defenders on a long through ball, chipping it past LIC goalkeeper Viktor Vazquez. &#8220When I had that second shot,” he said, &#8220I knew it was going in.”
He had help from junior goaltender Julian Garcia, filling in for starter Kevin Held, unavailable after drawing a red card in a previous win. Garcia was brilliant against the aggressive Bulldogs, making 23 saves, several of them acrobatic ones on headers and crosses into the box. &#8220The defense played really well and I had enough confidence in myself,” he said.
LIC (7-2-2, Queens-A-West) wasn't quite in top form. They lost their top midfielder, James Zaidan, to a severely twisted left ankle in the early going, and saw numerous chances go by the boards, specifically in the first half. Then there was the matter of the two penalty kicks Demetrious Touros shanked after halftime. The starting goaltender with thunder in his right foot, Touros played at midfield against Flushing. The first one he banged off the right post, and on the second, admittedly overanxious, in the 71st minute, he miss hit the ball, grounding it wide right, and setting off a raucous celebration on the Red Devils sideline.
&#8220It was a very bad day,” he lamented. &#8220Those two chances would've put the game away for us.”
After dropping three of their first five, Flushing (6-4-1, Queens-A-East) is suddenly hitting their stride. This latest triumph, their fifth straight, clinched a playoff berth for a team that has reached the PSAL Class A semifinals the last four years. &#8220This is definitely the top game of the season,” Flushing's first-year Coach Marek Skorupski said.
&#8220We have a lot of confidence,” Mashriqi said. &#8220We're looking to knock some teams out in the playoffs. We're going to be one of those wildcards.”