In Saturday’s face off against the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon, the women’s soccer team saw their eight game winning streak come to an end at the hand of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans. Until then, their strong play in the past month earned them the 23rd spot in the Top 25 of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III Poll.

Although they suffered a demoralizing loss, senior forward Melissa Menta knows the team will only grow from it.

“I think we had an overall strong performance yesterday so if we can build on that and omit some of our mistakes, we should have everything we need to be successful this weekend,” Menta said. “Great teams can stay focused for 90+ minutes straight. I know that we’re a great team.”

The game was deadlocked at 0-0 until Carnegie Mellon’s Amelia Clark scored off a well placed corner kick by Tori Iatarola with 6:19 remaining in the second overtime period. NYU junior goalkeeper Cassie Steinberg helped keep the game within reach for the Violets for as long as she could with her outstanding nine saves. Carnegie Mellon (11-0-1, 2-0 UAA) outshot NYU (9-2, 1-1 UAA) 13-5 overall, 10-2 in shots on goal and had a 10-2 edge in corner kicks.

Menta and sophomore forward Olivia Braender-Carr accounted for NYU’s two shot on goals with one apiece, while Menta and junior midfielder Lexi Clarke each recorded two shots. Tartans’ keeper Katie Liston made two saves to help shutout the Violets. Despite the tough end result, senior defender Emmy Hattle looks forward to hitting the field again.

“The team worked really hard this weekend at CMU,” Hattle said. “It was a tough loss but we gave our best till the very end. It was great to see the back line hold off one of the strongest offenses in the country. We now know what we are capable of and that sort of confidence is what we need going into the games this weekend.”

NYU soccer returns to action on Friday, Oct. 16, when they head back home and host seventh-ranked Washington University-St. Louis at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, New York. The UAA matchup is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.

A version of this article appeared in the Oct. 13 print edition. Email Brandon Herrera at [email protected].