No. 12 Men's Soccer Plays to 0-0 Tie with New York University on Sunday
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St. Louis, Mo., October 31, 2010 — The No. 12 Washington University in St. Louis men’s soccer team played to a 0-0 tie in double overtime with New York University in a crucial University Athletic Association (UAA) matchup on Sunday afternoon at Francis Field in St. Louis, Mo.
Washington University entered the game trailing New York by just one point in the conference standings, a lead the Violets managed to maintain thanks to Sunday afternoon’s results.
The Bears are now tied for second in the league with Emory University, who picked up a 2-0 win over Case Western Reserve University on Sunday, leaving both teams a point behind New York with one game remaining in the regular season.
Washington U. will host the University of Chicago in its regular season finale next Saturday, Nov. 6, at Francis Field at 2:30 p.m., while New York hosts Brandeis University next Saturday afternoon. Emory closes UAA play with a game at Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday, Nov. 7.
The UAA conference champion gains an automatic berth into the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Next weekend New York will be looking for its first UAA men’s soccer title in school history, while the Bears hope to capture the conference crown for the first time since 1999.
Sunday’s first half between Washington U. and New York was a defensive struggle for both teams, as neither squad recorded a shot on goal and the two teams combined for just five total shots.
There were a total of 12 fouls called, eight on the Bears and five on New York, and the Bears had a pair of corner kick opportunities compared to none for New York.
The Violets did have the best scoring opportunity of the opening period. In the 28th minute Colm Dillane sent a free kick from 25-yards out into the box where he found Paolo Luciano. Luciano managed to make solid contact with the ball but sent his header over the crossbar, and the score remained tied.
The second half played out similarly to the first with a lot of physical play but not many scoring chances. The Bears only had one shot on goal in the second half, when junior Patrick McLean nearly netted the game winner with 2:40 to play.
Freshman back Nik Patel sent a pass from midfield out to McLean on the left side of the box, which he took and made a move toward the net. McLean juked his defender and created an opening but New York University’s Matt Stieve punched his hard shot from eight yards out over the crossbar.
The first overtime period yielded no scoring opportunities for either team but the Bears turned on the accelerator in the second bonus period, peppering shots toward the New York net and keeping play in New York territory a majority of the time. However, none of the opportunities yielded a game winner and the Bears tied their fourth game of the season.
Freshman Jonathan Jebson made the first start of his career in goal for Washington U., making three saves in 110 minutes and bringing is record to 4-1-3. Washington University now leads the all-time series with New York 19-4-1.