The New York University women's soccer team capped an outstanding regular season with a 4-1 triumph over Brandeis University in a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest on Saturday, November 4, in Newark, NJ.
In the final home game of the regular season,
#16-ranked NYU (12-2-2, 3-2-2) celebrated Senior Day as 11 Violets were honored in a pregame ceremony which included their families.
The first goal of the game was scored by Brandeis' Abby Kenkelen at 33:36 of the first half. Following a free kick, the ball ricocheted to Kenkelen who fired a shot into the top left corner of the net which clanged off the cross bar and went in.
Each team had only one shot on goal in the first half as the Judges held the 1-0 advantage at halftime.
"I thought we played a very good first half," said Head Coach
Scott Waddell. "They scored on a good shot. Sometimes games go like that. But, I always felt we would be able to score."
The second half was a completely different story.
NYU's first scoring chance of the final half came at the 53:30 mark when
Hope Neale's shot got past Brandeis (6-8-3, 0-7-0) goalkeeper Amaya Logan, but bounced off the left post.
However, it wasn't very long before NYU netted the equalizer. At 56:14, Neale's shot was blocked and it landed at
Makenzie Rodrigues' feet, who then tapped it in from point-blank range to knot the score at 1-1.
But, Rodrigues was not done. Just a little over 15 minutes later (71:23), she took a long pass from
Rachel Kim down the right flank and sent it across the turf and past Logan into the left corner of the goal.
The Violets added their third goal at 76:55 when Brandeis was called for a hand ball within the box and
Gabriella Funk converted the penalty kick.
The scoring was concluded at 88:18 when
Kelli Keady dribbled down the left side, juked a defender, and crossed it in with her left foot.
"We definitely lifted our intensity in the second half," Waddell explained. "It was great to send off our seniors with a win and such a memorable game to finish the regular season. It was a really exciting day and I'm proud of all of our players."
The 2023 regular season is now complete and the Violets await Monday's announcement of a potential NCAA Tournament bid.
