In their first away game of the season, NYU men’s soccer won 4-0 versus the City College of New York in Purchase, NY. With this victory, the Violets continue their winning streak, making their record 5-0-0. The last time the Violets began the season with a 5-0-0 record was 1994, when current head coach Joe Behan was a player on the team.
“We had a good start in ‘94 like now,” Behan said.
When asked to compare the ‘94 team with the 2012 squad, he stated, “I would pick this team, but not by much.”
Forwards Kyle Green and Billy Cordova, and midfielders Niki Chow and Nimo Bergstroem each scored a goal.
Many of the offensive mistakes that led to the low score of last Wednesday’s game against Stevens Institute of Technology were not evident in the 4-0 finish. Forward Kyle Green had a strong start and put the Violets on the scoreboard in the 22nd minute after a through pass from midfielder Nimo Bergstroem.
“It was great to score today because sometimes the first can be the hardest to get out of the way but now that I have I’m hoping to open the floodgates and chase down the NYU goal record,” said Green, who is a senior this year. In the 2011 season, Green led the team in points, goals, shots and shots on goal.
Similar to their victory against Stevens, NYU held possession in the midfield, but scored only one goal during the first half. They surged in the second half, scoring two goals in 3 minutes right off the whistle to kick-start the end of the match. Cordova scored the final goal in the 67th minute.
“This was a lighter game … one of those games we had to win just because we were the better team by far,” says forward Paolo Luciano.
The two goalkeepers, Jonas Poster and Forrest Sexton, have kept a clean slate for a combined total of 197 minutes.
On Tuesday Sept. 11, it was announced that the Violets are ranked 17th according to D3soccer.com’s Top 25 Poll, and 22nd according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 Poll. The ranking was achieved by defeating two ranked teams — 18th ranked Stevens Institute of Technology and previously 22nd ranked William Patterson — consecutively in the two games before this victory.
Only one other team in their conference has a 5-0-0 undefeated record: the Brandeis Judges, a team ranked 20th for the second consecutive week. The Violets will face the Judges in their last game of the season.
“Anything can happen,” Coach Behan said. “We don’t want to look too far into the future.”
“Every time we play them [Brandeis] it is a tough game.” Defender Juan Velez said.
But for now, the Violets can savor their victory.
“This game was huge for NYU, as it was our first game on the road,” Bergstroem said. “This is the mentality we went in with and successfully executed.”
The Violets return to the field on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 12 p.m. against Baruch College in Maspeth, NY.
A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Sept. 13 print edition. Francisco Navas is a contributing writer Email him at [email protected].
