The NYU women’s soccer team went into their game on Sept. 17 with hopes of snapping a two-game losing streak against Ramapo College in a home game at Gaelic Park. The Violets were able to take advantage of the underperforming Roadrunners with a scoring blitz in the first half, leading to a 4-1 victory.

The Violets jumped out to an early lead in the 23rd minute when freshman midfielder Stephanie Ho scored on a corner kick by senior forward Cami Crawford.

“We’d been practicing pattern plays all week so we really focused on transitioning what we learned into the game,” Ho said. “It was great to see those attacking plays work so well.”

The Violets did not stop there and scored four times in total during the first half. Junior forward Melissa Menta scored her first goal of the season unassisted in the 39th minute, which was followed immediately in the 41st minute by a goal from senior forward Claire Shanahan. The Violets capped off the half in the 44th minute after Ramapo’s Brittany Mancini was given a red card in the box, and sophomore midfielder Ashley Cardounel put the penalty kick in the back of the net.

“Tonight we were able to solidify the dangerous forward movement to get around Ramapo’s defense,” Shanahan said. “It’s awesome to get the win and see the results of our hard work.”

The Violets’ defense performed at a high level and only allowed the Roadrunners one shot in the entire first half. In contrast, the Violets took over 20 shots in the opening 45 minutes and had a vast majority of the possession. The Violet defense stymied almost every offensive attempt by Ramapo.

In the 87th minute, Ramapo’s Autumn Herring tacked one goal for the Roadrunners, but it was too late to make any difference in the Violets’ rout.

NYU’s monster first half proved too much for the Roadrunners and the game never looked like a close contest after the 40th minute.

The Violets bounced back with authority on Wednesday night and, while they may not have been playing the toughest of opponents, the Violets showed they have the capability to be both offensively explosive and defensively sound.

The Violets, currently with a 3-3 record, look to build on last night’s win on Saturday against Bard College and hopefully climb back above .500 on the season.

A version of this story appeared in the Thursday, Sept. 18 print edition. Email Kyle Luther at [email protected].