NYU women’s soccer fell 2-0 to conference foes Case Western Reserve University on Saturday. The University Athletic Association match was held at Case Western in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Spartans scored in the 17th minute as sophomore forward Jessica Sabers headed in a corner from senior midfielder Deena Levey. The Violets’ defense held the Spartans for the remainder of the first half, but they failed to get the equalizer before halftime.
Case Western netted another goal 11 minutes into the second half with a shot from junior forward Rachel Bourque. NYU was unable to recover from the second goal and, despite five shots on goal, could not get a score onto the board.
“We know what we are capable of,” said sophomore goalie Meg Patten. “We just need to capitalize on our shots and keep goals out of the back of the net.”
Captain forward Serra Tumay, who has scored five goals in eight games so far this season, was unable to score against Case Western.
“We need to improve on finishing our chances,” Tumay said. “The score does not properly reflect the game at all. We outshot them and had some great chances in front of goal but couldn’t find the back of the net.”
This was the Violets’ first UAA conference game in the 2012 season. Before this game, they racked up a 6-2 record after beating the College of Staten Island 10-3 last week. They were held scoreless in this game for the first time this season. Last season, the Violets were 3-4 against UAA teams and just barely missed the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
“Despite getting an unfavorable result, the actual game itself was a great learning tool and showed us what we can do in future UAA games,” Patten said.
The Violets will take on non-conference William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., on Wednesday, Oct. 3. Their next conference matchup will be on Saturday, Oct. 6, against the University of Rochester in Gaelic Park.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct. 1 print edition. Chris Marcotrigiano is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].