Arkan Tahsildaroglu's (Istanbul, Turkey/Berkshire School (MA)) hat trick highlighted New York University's Men's Soccer Team's dominant, 10-0, victory over Baruch College on Wednesday, September 15, at Gaelic Park in the squad's 2021 home opener. Seven Violets found the back of the net as tonight's win tied for the second-largest margin of victory in program history.
"I continue to be pleased with our focus and our intensity," said Head Coach
Kim Wyant. "We have to take every opponent seriously and it was a great team effort. We scored some great goals and were able to implement a lot of the things we've been working on in practice."
Tahsildaroglu assisted on the first score of the game just eight minutes in, finding
Alex Rovirosa-Illa (Llinars del Valles, Barcelona/Hamelin Laie International ) on a short cross inside the box for the junior's first goal of the season. Tahsildaroglu made it 2-0 in the 20th minute, taking it himself up the left side and firing a shot into the back right corner of the net.
The Violets (4-0-1) quickly added two more tallies to put the game out of reach, as
Oliver Kleban (Denver, CO/Blind Brook) and
Keegan Ledger (Santa Rosa, CA/Montgomery) both scored within two minutes of Tahsildaroglu's goal.
Joss Cohen (Calabasas, CA/Calabasas) picked up his first collegiate assist on Ledger's goal.
Nathan Bennett (Wilton, CT/Wilton) rounded out the Violets' first-half outburst with a penalty-kick goal in the 29th minute, notching the first goal of his career. He secured a brace late in the second half (82'), firing a strike from inside the box into the bottom left corner of the net.
Nasib McDonald (St. Andrew, Jamaica/Milton Academy) and
Bryce Lexow (Rydal, PA/Abington Senior) both scored their first-career goals in the second half, while Tahsildaroglu added two more after the break to complete the rout.
Nacho Garcia-Morillo (Miami, FL/Gulliver Prep) and
Nicholas Suter (Cold Spring Harbor, NY/Cold Spring Harbor) each dished out an assist in the second half as well.
The Violets' defense continued its stingy play this season, not allowing any first-half shots from the Bearcats (0-2) and conceding only one shot attempt over the course of the game.
"This win helps our confidence. We know that we can put teams away and when other teams see scores like this it makes them stop and think about how strong we are attacking and defending," added Wyant. "It means a lot more."
NYU carries a four-game win streak into its next contest on Saturday, September 18, at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.
