New York University's Men's Soccer Team began University Athletic Association (UAA) play in resounding fashion with a 3-0 shutout of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, on Saturday, October 2.
"We approached the game with the right intensity and concentration that we need to have when playing good teams on the road," said Head Coach
Kim Wyant. "I was pleased with our attacking sequences and of course I'm always thrilled when we keep teams scoreless."
Nathan Bennett (Wilton, CT/Wilton) starred for the Violets (7-1-1, 1-0-0) in his first-career UAA contest, scoring a pair of second-half goals within seven minutes of each other to put the game out of reach.
New York's UAA-leading attack ripped 12 shots at CWRU's net before halftime while holding the Spartans (5-3-1, 0-1-0) to just four over the opening 45. The Violets got on the board in the 38th minute when
Arkan Tahsildaroglu (Istanbul, Turkey/Berkshire School (MA)) made a run up the left side and led
Bryce Lexow (Rydal, PA/Abington Senior) with a cross who found the back of the net for his second-career goal and 1-0 edge.
NYU kept its 1-0 advantage at halftime and wasted no time adding to it in the second as Bennett tapped in a cross from
Louis Meeks (Ann Arbor, MI/Greenhills School) to double the lead in the 51st minute.
Bennett scored again soon after (58') with an unassisted strike from 25 yards out on the far right side of the box for his fifth tally of the season and his young career.
The Violets' defense kept CWRU at bay and
Luca Mancuso (Miami, FL/Montverde Academy) saved all six shots he saw on goal to preserve the team's sixth shutout victory of 2021.
"We knew they'd be a team that could launch a lot of long balls into our defense and I thought
Nicholas Suter (Cold Spring Harbor, NY/Cold Spring Harbor) and
Evan Lewis (La Jolla, CA/La Jolla) were up for the task based on their style of play today," added Wyant.
New York returns to the pitch next Saturday, October 9, hosting Carnegie Mellon University to continue UAA play at Gaelic Park with kickoff set for 1:30 pm.
