Wednesday night, the NYU men’s soccer team blanked City College of New York 1-0, getting back on track after their 3-1 loss to Manhattanville College. The win pushed the Violets’ record to 2-1 for the year, but more importantly, gave new coach Kim Wyant her first win as head coach of the squad.

During the first half of the game freshman defender Niko Patrk had a close chance to score in the 31st minute when he attempted a shot with the CCNY keeper out of the net. A CCNY defender jumped in front and was able to clear the shot off the line, keeping the game scoreless. Sophomore midfielder Idy Watt broke the tie in the 55th minute when he took a cross from junior midfielder Bryan Walsh and sent it into the bottom corner of the net. The goal was Watt’s first for the Violets, and it held up as sophomore goalkeeper Lucas Doucette picked up four saves en route to his first clean sheet of the season.

“The first half was slow and we lacked energy, but we turned it around in the second half,” Doucette said. “It wasn’t a perfect game but anytime you shut out the other team, it’s a success.”

The win was a good sign for a team that needed to re-establish some confidence after being handily beaten in Wyant’s debut as head coach. Junior captain and midfielder Petter Aasa was relieved to get the program’s first win under Wyant, but made sure to note that his team needs to refocus and come out even stronger in their next game.

“We outplayed them from start to finish, but unfortunately we couldn’t seem to put the ball in the back of the net,” Aasa said. “We had two goals called off for offsides. Now we gotta shift our focus to the two games we have this weekend.”

There was no lack of effort, however, as NYU created multiple chances that just didn’t end up panning out for the team. NYU outshot their opponent 18-10 and controlled the game for the better part of it. The CCNY defense caught Violet attackers offside seven times, a number that will need to be lowered to ensure their quality chances aren’t wasted going forward. But for now, the Violets will be happy they came out and played hard enough to prove that they won’t be stirred by their recent coaching change.

“We came out hungry from the start,” Patrk said. “We wanted to prove that we still had our composure, even with the recent coaching change. As a result, we got a much-needed victory. At this point, it’s just a matter of using this win as momentum going forward.”

The Violets will be back on the field this weekend, where they will compete in the Scarlet Raider Soccer Classic hosted by Rutgers-Newark University. On Sept. 12, they’ll square off against the host. They’ll have a quick turnaround as the next day they’ll face The College of New Jersey. With tonight’s win in the back of their minds, they’ll look to come out of the weekend with two more huge wins.

Email Ashley Arnold at [email protected].