Box Score
The New York University women's soccer team opened University Athletic Association (UAA) play with a huge win, knocking off defending league co-champion University of Rochester 2-1 on Saturday, October 2, at the College of Staten Island.
The Violets (5-5-1, 1-0) toppled the Yellowjackets (6-3-1, 0-1), a team that just four days earlier defeated the seventh-ranked squad in Division III and is currently ranked #6 in the East Region, for the second time in three years. NYU is now atop the UAA standings a year after going winless in the Association.
“We beat a team that beat the #7 team in the country,” said head coach
Werner T. Dasbach. “That proves we can play with the best.”
“That was a huge win,” added tri-captain
Jane Barrett. “They are always one of the strongest teams in the UAA, and this is a huge indication of how we are going to do in the conference.”
Such a huge win may have seemed unlikely after the NYU's slow start to the season – it began 1-4 but is 4-1-1 since – but the squad made a concerted effort to schedule non-conference games against some of the top teams in Division III in preparation for the always-challenging UAA. The Violets faced nationally ranked teams in each of their first two games and also squared off against several other teams who routinely reach the NCAA Tournament.
“With our schedule, we've been really working hard,” commented tri-captain
Rebecca Assing. “This is where what we learned in those tough games matters, and we made a statement to the UAA today.”
NYU made a statement early against Rochester, scoring just 9:58 in. Shortly after
Emily Jenkinson narrowly missed a goal by sending a shot to the upper left corner that the keeper just got a piece of, Assing found the back of the net. The senior made a diagonal run across the box and headed in
Serra Tumay's free kick to give the Violets the 1-0 lead.
Even with the early advantage, NYU never let up on offense. Assing had two more great chances late in the first half, twice striking headers from inside the 6 that were blocked by defenders.
The Violets outshot the Yellowjackets 8-3 in the first half and continued to look to expand their lead in the second. It didn't take long to do just that, as in the 62nd minute
Molly Henning scored on a fantastic play. After a long run by Jenkinson down the right side,
Tara Kiernan played a short pass to Henning inside the box, and the sophomore slid and knocked it in over the keeper for her first career goal.
Eight minutes later
Laura Palumbo nearly made it a three-goal game on another remarkable play. Palumbo carried the ball from near midfield all the way to the box, using several dekes in the box to get off a shot that the keeper had to dive to stop. Jenkinson corralled the rebound, but her try was blocked by the defense.
Rachael Ross made her only two saves of the game after that. Rochester finally broke through with just 18 seconds left on a header by Kathryn Rowe, but by then it was too late. And even though the Violets lost the shutout, they still saw a positive to take away.
“They are a very good team and they found a way to score, but we have to prevent those late goals,” said Barrett. “That's another thing we can learn from.”
NYU returns to action with a non-conference game at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, on Wednesday. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm.
