Maxi Rodriguez's goal with less than 10 minutes remaining broke a scoreless tie and propelled the New York University men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Emory University in a University Athletic Association (UAA) matchup on Friday, October 12, at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, NY.

The winning sequence began when Oliver Kleban's shot was saved by Emory's goalkeeper Cole Gallagher. However, Rodriguez was able to get the rebound and drive it past Gallagher fior the game's only goal at the 80:10 mark.

"After withstanding their attack early in the second half, we became more aggressive and we just attacked, attacked, attacked," explained Head Coach Kim Wyant. "Maxi just made a great shot to get us that goal."

The host Violets (10-2-0, 2-1-0 UAA) were out-shot 13-9 overall and 6-4 on goal by the Eagles (8-3-1, 0-3-0 UAA), who came into the game ranked #24 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Rankings.

A last-second shot by Emory's William Jones was turned away by NYU keeper Grant Engel with just seconds remaining in the contest.

"Grant made some big saves for us when he needed to, but posting a shutout is a team effort and we really played hard and defended well," Wyant revealed. 

Engel made six saves in posting his fifth shutout of the season. Rodriguez now has four goals this season, while Kleban leads the Violets with five assists and 17 points.

"Our confidence is building as a team and we're getting this program to the point where we know we can be in every game we play no matter who the opponent is," Wyant surmised.

The Violets get right back on the pitch this Sunday, October 14, when they host another UAA squad, the University of Rochester, at 11am at Gaelic Park.