Box Score

The New York University women's soccer team picked up its second straight positive result against a regionally ranked team, playing William Paterson University to a 1-1 draw in Wayne, NJ, on Wednesday, October 6.

 

With the tie, the Violets (5-2-2) did not leave Wayne on the losing side for the first time in school history. NYU is 3-0-2 in its last five games, while the Pioneers (7-2-3), who entered the contest ranked #6 in the South Atlantic Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and received votes in this week's D3soccer.com Top 25 Poll, are unbeaten in their last 10. On Saturday William Paterson defeated then No. 11 Rowan University, a team that beat the Violets earlier in the season.

 

“We came out a little slow – it was a bit of an adjustment playing on wet grass,” said tri-captain Katie Gaston. “But we showed a lot of character coming back, especially against a team that just beat Rowan. That shows how far we've come in the last month.”

 

Serra Tumay provided the heroics in the comeback effort. With NYU trailing 1-0 in the 56th minute, she took a feed off the head of Jane Barrett and ripped a shot from roughly 35 yards out over the keeper and into the back of the net. The goal extended the sophomore's point-scoring streak to four games.

 

“That was a beautiful goal – I'm going to tell everyone to go online and look at the highlight,” joked Gaston.

 

“Serra's come through with a lot of big goals for us,” she added. “She and a lot of the underclassmen have played really well, and that gives this program a lot of hope for the future.”

 

The first half was not full of many highlights for the Violets, who entered the break trailing 1-0 after Michelle Marabondo scored with a low shot in the 38th minute. But NYU looked like a different team in the second half and needed only 10 minutes to tie the score.

 

“At halftime we said that this is not good enough,” commented Gaston. “We wanted better and demanded better. We came out a lot stronger and it was a completely different half.”

 

The Violets did, however, need a big sequence from goalkeeper Rachael Ross to get to overtime. Just minutes after Tumay's tying goal, Ross made two consecutive point-blank saves after a scramble in front to keep the score tied.

 

NYU had an excellent chance to win in overtime with the clock winding down. Tumay rushed to take a corner kick with fewer than 10 seconds on the clock, and after a failed clear by William Paterson, Molly Henning had a clear view of the net from the edge of the 18. But her shot sailed high, forcing a second sudden-victory period.

 

The Pioneers had the best chance of the period less than a minute in, but after Marabondo corralled a through ball in the box Henning broke up the one-on-one opportunity.

 

The Violets begin a three-game stretch of University Athletic Association (UAA) games on Saturday when they travel to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Game time is scheduled for 11:00 am.