NYU Men's Soccer Wins UAA Opener in Overtime

October 1, 2011

Matt Newman’s overtime goal lifted the New York University men’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Case Western Reserve University in both teams’ University Athletic Association (UAA) opener on Saturday, October 1, at Gaelic Park in Riverdale, NY.

Newman scored 5:04 into the first overtime period after Niki Chow played a short free kick to him. Newman lofted a high cross into the box, where Violet forward Kyle Green and Spartan goalkeeper Ben Yabrow both leapt for the ball. The ball skipped past both and landed in the top left corner of the net, lifting NYU (5-3-1, 1-0) to the win in its UAA opener.

“It feels to good win in overtime for a change,” said NYU head coach Joe Behan. “I feel sorry for Case because I thought they were in the game as much as we were. But our back line did extremely well to keep Vinny Bell [the 2010 UAA Player of the Year] off the board.”

By keeping Bell and the rest of the Spartans (7-3, 0-1) off the board, the defending UAA Champion Violets increased their streak of consecutive shutout minutes in UAA play to 787:49. NYU has recorded eight straight UAA shutouts and has not allowed an Association foe to score since November 7, 2009.

“Niki Chow was outstanding in the back, and the whole back line played great,” commented Behan. “We defended really well to get to eight in a row.”

Though the Violet offense did not break through until Newman’s overtime goal, NYU came within inches of taking an early lead. In the 13^th minute, Paolo Luciano lined up for a free kick from just outside the box and blasted a shot that struck the left post.

Luciano placed another shot just over the crossbar a few minutes later. Case also had a great first-half chance moments later, but Eric Erb’s point-blank shot sailed high.

The Spartans put the pressure on the NYU defense for much of the second half, but just as it did last year en route to capturing the UAA title, the Violet back line never broke. The best chance in the second half for either squad came on a Case free kick in the 77^th minute. Kyle Alsup chipped a high shot, but Jonah Poster jumped and punched it over the bar.

Newman’s goal was the lone shot in the overtime period for both sides.

Poster finished with five saves in goal for his second consecutive shutout. Yabrow made three stops for the Spartans.

The Violets return to action on Wednesday afternoon for a non-conference tilt at Kean University in Union, NJ. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 pm.