Men's Soccer Wins First Ever Uaa Championship

With a 1-0 Senior Day victory over Brandeis University, the NYU men's soccer team captured its first ever UAA championship Saturday afternoon at Gaelic Park in the Bronx.

The two teams battled through a tough-and-forth nail biter for most of the contest, and both Brandeis and NYU had great chances, but neither seemed to be able to finish.

That almost changed in the 29th minute when the Judges broke through the Violets' defense as Brandeis' Matt Hohmann aimed a low shot at the goal that slipped past senior goalkeeper Matt Stieve.

Fortunately for the Violets, freshman defender Danny Weisbaum was there to save the play as he dropped and turned the shot away, keeping NYU's school-record seven straight shutouts intact.

"The ball was coming over the top, [Stieve] stepped out, I was on the weak side so I just dropped under him," Weisbaum said.

NYU came back in the second half and the game began to shift in their favor. The Violets' offense began applying pressure on the Judges' defense, retaining possession longer and attempting more shots on goal.

The title-clinching goal came with 11 minutes left to play, when sophomore forward Kyle Green fed junior midfielder Adam Fein a through ball. Fein outraced a defender and flicked the ball over the charging keeper's head.

The game-winning goal marked Fein's first career goal.

"We worked really hard all season. It finally paid off," Fein said.

From then on, the Violets held the Judges off through the final 10 minutes of play.

When the final whistle sounded, fans and players alike erupted into cheers as they celebrated NYU's well-earned championship.

"Best performance of the year was today," head coach Joe Behan said.

The shutout also made the Violets the first team in conference history to complete all seven UAA games without allowing a goal.

NYU also extended its consecutive scoreless minutes streak to a school record of 715:25.

"The title means a lot to the program, as well as being a great gift to the seniors," the team's top goal scorer sophomore Paolo Luciano said.

But the hard work isn't done yet. Next, the Violets set their sights on the NCAA Tournament. Their road to a national championship continues this week with a first-round match-up that will be announced this afternoon at 2 p.m. on ncaa.com.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Nov. 8 print edition. Nivea Serrao is a staff writer. E-mail her at sportst[@]nyunews.com.