Eagles Fall to NYU and Brandeis

By Elana Cates

This past weekend, the men's soccer team lost to both the New York University Violets and the Brandeis University (Mass.) Judges, dropping their NCAA ranking from No. 8 to No. 9.

"We didn't play our best this past weekend, but we are going to work hard in practice this week so we can go into the next game more aggressive," sophomore midfielder Scott Haley said.

After the squad's suffered its first loss of the season last week against the University of Chicago (Ill.), the Eagles came out aggressive against NYU on Friday, Oct. 17.

Within the first 40 seconds, senior forward Dylan Price delivered a shot on goal.

Less than 12 minutes later, both freshman midfielder Jason McCartney and sophomore midfielder Max Gomas had each managed two shots on goal.

By the middle of the game, McCartney and Haley had totaled three more shots on goal.

Despite all this action, however, the first half ended with the score tied at 0-0.

The second half started well for the Eagles, with three more shots from junior Sebastian Hardington, Gomas and Haley. However, in the 56th minute, the Violet's Deniz Oncu took the ball from the defensive zone and sent a long ball to Malcolm Montilus, who was able to score on the breakaway.

After an aggressive push to tie up the game, the Eagles' offense was not able to compete with the Violet's defense. Emory outshot NYU 22-8 and also managed more shots on goal (10-1), but was not able to score. The game ended with NYU leading 1-0.

On Sunday, Oct. 19, Emory travelled to Waltham, Mass. to go up against No. 7 Brandeis. The match started with a nice run down the right side by Brandeis within the first 45 seconds, resulting in a shot on goal.

Emory was not able to make opportunities until the 10th minute of play, when freshman Gabriel Vasconcelos put up the Eagles' first shot on goal. After sophomore Jason Andrejchak tried to dribble past Brandeis' defenders but could not find an open shot, junior Connor Curtin's kick from the left side was blocked by a leaping save from the Judge's goalie Joe Graffy.​

The first half ended with no more excitement and the score tied at 0-0.

The second half again opened with a pair of shots on goal from each squad, until Brandeis broke the 0-0 tie with Tyler Savonen's straight-on penalty kick. The score remained 1-0, Brandeis the rest of the game, with the Judges outshooting the Eagles 9-7.

"We didn't capitalize on our chances against NYU, then got unlucky against Brandeis," Hardington said. "We will work hard this week in training and get ready for our next game."

This loss marks the third in a row for the Eagles. Their record now sands at 11-3-1 overall and 1-3-0 in the University Athletic Association (UAA).

Emory will return to the field after a 12-day break on Oct. 31, against the University of Rochester at 5:00 p.m. at the Woodruff P.E. Center.

– By Elana Cates, Contributing Writer

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