The New York University men's soccer team's 2017 season will continue after a rousing come-from-behind tie, then win on penalty kicks against host William Paterson University in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship Quarterfinal matchup on Sunday, November 12, in Wayne, NJ.
The Violets (9-7-3), seeded #2 in the Metro Region, fell behind the top-seeded Pioneers (11-6-4) 2-0 early in the first half.
However, NYU rallied to score a goal in each half and then won on penalty kicks 4-1 to advance to next weekend's ECAC Semifinals.
"Massive win for our program," said Head Coach
Kim Wyant. "Even after we fell behind we never lost confidence. We stayed calm and just kept playing."
William Paterson's JP Gonzalez scored twice in less than three minutes to give the Pioneers the early advantage. First, at 17:24, he converted on a penalty kick. Then, just over two minutes later, Gonzalez scored unassisted again when he curled a shot into the right corner of the net past the Violets'
Grant Engel from approximately 20 feet out at the 19:45 mark.
The Violets started their comeback quickly, however, as
Tristan Medios-Simon took a through ball from
Matteo Carrieri-Russo and pushed it past the charging Pioneer goalkeeper Kyle Quigley.
The score remained the same until Medios-Simon scored again at 75:08.
Nic Notaro sent a cross into the box, and after Quigley made the initial save Medios-Simon was able to clean up the rebound and drive it into the net.
"Tristan was huge. He makes things happen for us," Wyant explained. "He's a great player."
Neither team scored again for the rest of regulation and through the two 10-minute overtime periods.
Medios-Simon and Gonzalez were both successful on their opening PK's for their respective squads. However, after
Ricardo Mitrano connected for NYU, Cameron Allen's shot hit off the crossbar for the Pioneers.
Robert Shellow then made the third attempt for NYU. And, when Engle saved the next Paterson attempt the PK victory was secured when
Inder Sharma tallied for NYU.
"Tristan set the tone with the first penalty kick and our upperclassmen followed through for us," Wyant said. "We just refused to lose."
NOTABLES:
- Engel and Quigley each finished with seven saves.
- NYU was out-shot in the contest 17-15. Paterson also had the advantage in corner kicks, 8-1.
The Violets now move forward to the ECAC Division III Championship semifinal, and will face Rutgers University-Camden next Saturday, November 18. The time and site have yet to be determined.
