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#15/25 Men's Soccer Overcomes #17/21 Kean 3-1 Behind Keller's Pair

09/05/07

Junior forward Branden Neal tallied a goal and an assist to lead the New York University men's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over Kean University in a battle of top-25 teams Wednesday night in Union, New Jersey.

A battle of two of the top sides in the Metropolitan Region, the Violets (2-1) entered the game ranked #15 by d3kicks.com and #25 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division III Poll. Kean (2-1) is ranked #17 in the NSCAA/adidas poll and #21 by d3kicks.com. NYU was ranked #4 in the NSCAA/adidas regional rankings, a slot behind the #3 Cougars.

NYU showed no ill effects from Sunday's 2-1 loss to Stevens Institute of Technology (#3 NSCAA), blitzing Kean for three unanswered goals before the Cougars answered with a second-half tally.

Early on, the Violets appear to have found a dynamic tandem in senior All-American Jeritt Thayer and freshman Anthony Tumbiolo. Thayer netted his fourth goal of the season, and third off a Tumbiolo assist, by deflecting the rookie's corner kick at the 13:37 mark.

From there, Keller, who produced the game-winning goal in the NCAA Division III sectional semifinals against Nazareth College last fall, buried a cross from Neal at 30:52 to give NYU a 2-0 lead.

In the first half, the Violets dominated play, owning big advantages in shots (12-2) and corner kicks (7-1). NYU was also whistled for four offside calls during the opening 45 minutes.

Neal added the Violets' final goal at 55:21, capitalizing off a Cougar turnover to score unassisted and increase the margin to 3-0.

After Keller's tally, though, the Cougars started to surge and finally struck at 66:43 when Jerry Saintil converted a feed from 2006 all-region performer Anthony Tuesta. This pulled Kean within 3-1, but despite forcing some action in the Violets' end over the final 45 minutes, the Cougars could not capitalize again.

Junior Chris Wright stopped two shots, both in the second half, for NYU. Kyle Crego produced four saves for Kean.

Overall, NYU owned a 16-10 edge on shots and held an 11-5 lead in corner kicks.

The Violets return to action Friday, Sept. 7, when they host City College of New York at Lubetkin Field on the campus of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ. Match time is slated for 9 p.m.