The New York University men's soccer team defeated Manhattanville College 2-0 on Saturday, September 23, at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, NY.

The victory was the fifth straight for NYU (5-0-1), which had lost four in a row to the Valiants (3-5-0) dating back to 2009. 

NYU goalkeeper Grant Engel make two tremendous back-to-back saves in the opening minutes to keep the game scoreless.

"We had some jitters early on it seemed, but Grant bailed us out back there," said NYU Head Coach Kim Wyant.

The Violets took control after the first few minutes and were rewarded for their effort in the 34th minute when Owen Smith headed in a corner kick from Ricardo Mitrano. 

NYU doubled its lead in the 54th minute when Mitrano connected on a penalty kick after Smith was taken down in the box.

Engel finished the contest with eight saves, while Manhattanville goalkeeper Tim Carsting made nine.

NOTABLES:

- NYU outshot the Valiants 17-13 and 11-8 in shots on goal.

- Mitrano and Richie Rambarran each took three shots to lead the squad.

- The Violets are off to their best start since 2011 when they won their first eight games.

"We like where we are at right now, but we have some tough games ahead," added Wyant. "We built our schedule this way so the competition gets tougher as we get closer to UAA (University Athletic Association) play."

NYU returns to action on Tuesday, September 26, when it travels to Madison, NJ, to take on Drew University at 4:00pm.