#24 Men's Soccer Beats Brandeis 2-1 in Regular-Season Finale
11/03/07
Freshman midfielder Michael Burke's first collegiate goal with 1:21 remaining provided the winning margin as the New York University men's soccer team beat Brandeis University 2-1 in a battle of University Athletic Association (UAA) rivals on a windy, wet and sloppy day in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Burke's heroics helped the Violets (13-4-1, 4-3 UAA), ranked #24 by d3kicks.com, improve their chances of earning a NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championships at-large invitation when the field is announced Monday morning. NYU earned its first-ever bid to the Division III bracket last year and advanced all the way to the Final Four.
With the victory in its regular-season finale, the Violets assured themselves of at least a fourth-place finish in the UAA. They finished third in the Association in 2006 as four other UAA teams (Washington University, Case Western Reserve University, University of Rochester and University of Chicago) participated in the NCAA Championships.
NYU jumped out to a 1-0 lead when junior Robert Keller netted his fourth score of the season at 13:11. Brandeis' goalkeeper made a play on the ball and missed, allowing junior forward Adam Dhanens to tap it over to Keller, whose conversion gave Dhanens his sixth assist this season.
Brandeis (8-9-3, 0-6-1 UAA) tied the match at 52:44 on a cross by Alex Zenarovitz that slipped through junior goalkeeper Chris Wright's hands.
NYU dominated play in the second half, though, playing with the wind and owning a 10-4 edge on shots over the final 45 minutes. Overall, the Violets outshot the Judges 14-11.
Wright made five saves for NYU, while Taylor Bracken put aside five shots and Brandeis recorded one team save.
NYU improved to 7-12-1 all time against the Judges, including a 4-0-1 mark on its last five road trips to Brandeis.