It took more than 90 minutes, but the New York University Men's Soccer Team persevered for a 2-1 overtime victory over host Montclair State University on Saturday, September 11, in Montclair, NJ.

Arkan Tahsildaroglu (Istanbul, Turkey/Berkshire School (MA)) lifted the Violets (2-0-1) to victory 7:40 into overtime when he converted a pass from Oliver Kleben and shot it past Red Hawks goalkeeper Andrew Lezme.

"It was all Ollie, honestly," Tahsildaroglu said. "He hit a long ball and placed it on my feet perfectly. All I had to do was slip it in the low corner. I'm very grateful."

Montclair (4-1) opened the scoring at 22:04 when Amer Lukovic took a Ryan Catalano feed and kicked it into the lower left corner past NYU goalkeeper Luca Mancuso (Miami, FL/Montverde Academy). It was the only shot that evaded Mancuso all afternoon as he was forced to turn away four of the Red Hawks' 18 shots.

Conversely, the Violets only took nine shots in the game, four on net, but converted two for the victory. 

"It's tough on the road, especially when fans are screaming in my ear," Mancuso explained. "But that's motivation for me and it was a really great feeling when we scored the winning goal."

NYU's first goal tied the contest at 1-1. It was recorded at 34:32 when Alex Rovirosa-Illa (Llinars del Valles, Barcelona/Hamelin Laie International ) boomed a free kick from just outside midfield that was headed in by Nicholas Suter (Cold Spring Harbor, NY/Cold Spring Harbor), trickling into the lower right corner and evading Lezme.

"We knew it would be a battle. Two really good teams," said NYU Head Coach Kim Wyant. "I knew it would come down to one goal, perseverance and someone coming through with something special in the end, and that came down to both Ollie and Arkan."  

The Violets are right back in action tomorrow when they return to New Jersey to face Kean University in Union. Kickoff is set for 3:00 pm.