By Kyle Luther

Men’s Soccer

The NYU men’s soccer team started the season off 2-0 over the weekend defeating both Baruch College 3-1 and Brooklyn College 1-0. The Violets never trailed in either contest.

On Saturday the Violets handily defeated Baruch College. The first two goals for the Violets came from Stern freshman midfielder Vegas Kastberg and CAS freshman defender Liam Stimpson. It was a team win, but CAS junior goalkeeper Nico Cantor should be noted for making two saves in only his second career start to keep Baruch College from getting within striking distance. 

The second match against Brooklyn College in the home opener was much closer with the Violets only scoring late in the game. They controlled most of the game, taking nine shots on goal compared to only two from Brooklyn College. In the 87th minute Stern freshman and forward Nicolas Notaro headed the ball past the keeper finally taking advantage of the team’s many opportunities and sealing the game away. 

Women’s Soccer

The NYU women’s soccer team started off the season 1-1 over the weekend at the Cougar Classic in Union, New Jersey. The Violets won the first game 1-0 against Richard Stockton on Saturday but lost a close match 2-1 against host Kean University on Sunday.

The team maintained a 1-0 lead against Richard Stockton for the majority of the game on Saturday. The only goal in the game came from Poly freshman forward Olivia Braender-Carr late in the first half. 

The Violets defense was the star of the match, only allowing one shot on goal during the first half while sophomore goalie Cassie Steinberg made four saves during the course of the game. 

Unfortunately, the Violets were not able to come back in a 2-1 loss against Kean on Sunday. The Cougars scored first in the 14th minute of the game but the Violets responded just five minutes later when CAS senior forward Cami Crawford netted one in the upper right corner off a cross from SCPS junior forward Melissa Menta. 

Kean’s Shelby Pedersen scored    the winning goal in the 76th minute to crush the Violets’ hopes of a weekend sweep.

Women’s Volleyball 

The NYU women’s volleyball team was defeated in a close match to North Central College in the Labor Day Invitational Championship game over the weekend.

The Violets managed to defeat Babson College, St. John Fisher College and Union College in a lead up to the championship game against North Central. The Violets took an early lead, winning the first set over the Cardinals, but did not maintain that lead. The Violets won the first set 25-22, lost the second set 25-20, came back to win the third 25-22 but lost the fourth set 25-15 and the fifth set 15-5. 

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Sept. 2 print edition. Email Kyle Luther at [email protected].