Emory University men’s soccer team competed at the Woodruff Physical Education Center against New York University (NYU) on Oct. 22. Entering the game ranked No. 7 in the nation, the Eagles won 4-1 and captured their first University Athletic Association (UAA) title since 2012.
Emory began the first half with a bang. Senior defender Jake Atallah opened the game by scoring in the fourth minute for the Eagles, converting a deflected header from junior defender Sebastian Rincon.
Less than three minutes later, junior midfielder Attila Sepkin switched the ball to Rincon who passed it to sophomore midfielder Josh Grand. Grand found graduate forward Colton Myers who curled a strong shot over NYU goalkeeper Chaz Bond. Atallah noted that the early goals were “huge” for making the opposition more “anxious” and “on-edge.”
Myers added that the coaches mentioned pushing three or more players into the box to make NYU’s defense “suffer” in the pre-game discussion, and this tactic led to the team’s second goal.
“Josh made that run in behind the outside back when exploiting the space, and then I noticed that he was preparing to cut the ball back, so I tried to generate some space off my defender and cut towards him,” Myers said. “When he played that pass, it was perfect weight, so I was able to get a foot around it and curl it to the near post and beat the goalie.”
The Eagles managed to keep NYU scoreless in the first half with a strong defensive performance. Freshman forward Lorenzo Avalos drove to the box and found Myers who scored again in the 38th minute.
Late in the first half, freshman midfielder Logan Steren took a free kick after NYU sophomore defender Felipe Remon fouled Myers. Steren found Avalos who beat his defender and headed the ball into the back of the net for Emory’s fourth goal, his first collegiate goal.
“[Steren] gave me a look,” Avalos said. "During practice, I’ve seen that look before. Whenever he gives me that [look], he wants me to run to a certain area of the box. And so I went to that area, luckily he put the ball right there, and I just finished it.”
The Eagles went scoreless in the second half, but NYU was unable to match Emory’s scoring power in the first. In the 58th minute, Atallah slide tackled NYU senior forward Arkan Tahsildaroglu near the goal line, giving away a penalty kick. Tahsildaroglu capitalized on the scoring opportunity for the first and only NYU goal of the game.
Atallah attributed Emory’s lack of goals in the second half to their effort to preserve the lead.
“We did sit back a little bit deeper just to ensure that we maintain the lead that we had,” Atallah said. “We definitely didn’t set out to just defend ... But at that point, with the UAA title on the line, it’s up to us to lock it down, maintain that lead and finish the game.”
The Eagles closed the game allowing only three shots on goal in the second half, securing the 4-1 win. After being crowned UAA champions, the team earned an automatic NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship qualification.
Emory plays its two final regular season games away against the University of Chicago on Oct. 28 and the University of Rochester (N.Y.) on Nov. 4. Myers said the team will not stop after winning the UAA title.
“I’m pretty sure it’s the same mentality for everyone on the team — we want to be undefeated in conference,” Myers said. “We want to go 7-0 [in conference play] and do something very special … We think, as a group, we have a very solid chance to win a national championship, and that’s where everyone’s minds are shifting on now.”
