Saturday was a busy day for NYU soccer, as both the men and women continued their quest to get out of the gates hot. The men traveled to Purchase to take on Manhattanville while the women hosted Vassar College at Gaelic Park in their first home game of the season.

The women started off the day well, earning their second straight victory to start the season with a hard fought victory over the previously unbeaten Brewers. Both teams played a very even game until the 83rd  minute when junior midfielder Steph Ho scored the game’s deciding goal. After freshman forward Alex Benedict’s free kick from outside of 40 yards bounced off the crossbar, Ho was there to quickly polish off the rebound. The Violets held off Vassar’s attacks in the closing minutes and secured a 1-0 victory.

It was a strong team performance by the Violets, who outshot Vassar 17-12 and outpossessed the Brewers throughout the game. The NYU women were led by strong performances — most notably, junior forward Teressa Fazio and senior midfielder Lexi Clarke who combined for nine total shots. With the win, the Violets improved to 2-0 on the season and hope to continue their success next weekend when they will be traveling to Hoboken, NJ to face off with Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Sept. 10 and Stevens Institute of Technology on Sept. 11.

The men had a bit of a rough go in their match as they were unable to slow down Manhattanville’s powerful attack, suffering their first defeat of the young season.

It was a fast start to the game for both sides as the Violets recorded their three best scoring chances early in the game, but the Valiants were the first to break through on a 27th minute header from Omar Parra. Senior goalkeeper Lucas Doucette kept the game close totaling nine saves, but Manhattanville struck again in the 69th minute and held off the Violets’ late charge to secure a 2-0 victory. Top performers for the Violets included sophomore midfielder Ricardo Mitrano and senior captain Petter Aasa who led the team with three shots.

Although the Violets hoped for a better result on Saturday, junior defender Gregory Suter remained optimistic.

“Manhattanville is a tough team to beat,” Suter said. “As a team we feel like we have the necessary pieces to make a good run this year. There are a few things we can work on in practice this week to prepare for our upcoming games and UAA play.”

The NYU men will also be back in action this week with away games against City College of New York on Sept. 7 and Hunter College on Sept. 10.

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Sept. 6 print edition. Email Ben Goodkin at [email protected].