With three victories under their belts, the NYU men’s soccer team came out Saturday night looking to continue their winning streak in a home game against the College of Staten Island. Through dominating possession play and fiery attacks on goal, the Violets came out on top with a 2-1 victory, chalking up another win to their season so far.
From kickoff, it proved to be an aggressive game, with three fouls being called against the Violets in the first six minutes of the first half. The physical play would persist throughout the game, with a total of 32 fouls at the end of the game — NYU with 23 and CSI with nine.
“It was a close match with a lot of physicality and dumb fouls but we held together and came out with the win,” said senior defender Juan Velez, one of four players who received yellow cards in the game.
Dominating the possession play in the early stages of the game, the Violets fired five shots on goal in the first 15 minutes. In the 19th minute, senior midfielder Chris Ramirez netted a goal in the corner past the CSI keeper, after a series of give-and-gos with junior center midfielder, Nimo Freitag Bergstroem, down the field towards the Dolphins’ 18-yard box.
But the Dolphins answered right back with a goal of their own just a minute later, as CSI sophomore Horatio Reed sent a shot past NYU freshman keeper Lucas Doucette in the 20th minute. The Violets continued their attacks with sailing shots both wide and on frame, but to no avail.
With the game tied at 1-1, the NYU men came out in the second half with a renewed fire. They racked up 13 shots, compared to the nine they attempted in the first half.
Their work finally paid off when, in the 66th minute, sophomore forward Shawn McNitt-Gray tallied the game winner, his first goal of the season, after an assisted pass from Bergstroem.
“We had strong possession in the game because we patiently moved the ball around in the back,” said Ramirez, the lead scorer for the game. “This allowed us to not rush our play and attack along the flanks.”
By calmly maintaining possession of the defensive line, the Violets held their 2-1 lead until the final whistle.
“We were pleased with the way the team pulled through. CSI were a physical team but our backline and central midfielders stayed composed and were able to handle CSI’s pressure,” said assistant coach Ryan Finnigan.
Every game for the NYU men, win or loss, is a chance for them to continue improving and integrating the new players into their game system. Ramirez will continue using the 4-5-1 formation that builds a strong midfield position. Finnigan will improve tactical awareness along with speed of play.
The women’s squad weekend was not as bright
The NYU men hope to extend their four-game winning streak as they face City College of New York in a 7:30 p.m. home match at Gaelic Park.
The women’s squad weekend was not as positive, as they fell, for the first time this season, to Stevens Institute of Technology by a score of 2-0 in the final game of the Stevens Engineering Cup in New Jersey.
Stevens came into the match winless after three straight ties, but they had sealed the match by the end of the first half after scoring in the 29th and 38th minutes.
The Violets had two clear scoring chances late in the match, after the 85th minute, along with seven shots for the match, but could not finish.
The women’s soccer team return to the pitch to face Vassar College in Poughkeepsie next Saturday the 14th.
Michelle Tran is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].
