Hurtado's OT Goal Propels NYU-Poly to WIn

NEWTON, MA -  Freshmen Adrian Hurtado (Deer Park, NY) was quiet for most of the game, but in the 99th minute of Saturday's opening game in the Lasell Kickoff Classic, he silenced a raucous home team crowd as he pocketed a pass from freshmen Marcelo Escudero (Maywood, NJ), past Lasell's keeper for the thrilling 3-2 OT victory.  With the win, NYU-Poly improves to 2-0, while Lasell drops to 0-1.

NYU-Poly wasted no time in taking an early lead when sophomore Nick Michalczewski (Miami, FL) hit Escudero on a perfectly timed run. The freshmen took a touch and then buried his left-footed shot into the lower right corner jsut 35 seconds into the match to put the Jays up 1-0.

The rest of the half featured just a few quality chances for both sides, the best coming for Lasell in the moments after Escudero's goal.  The Lazers Evan Gaccione hit the crossbar on a shot from 20 yards out.  Then in the 24th minute another Lazers shot, this time a header off a corner, was denied by Jays keeper Rob Petri (St. Louis, MO).  Petri finished the game with 8 saves.

NYU-Poly would take its 1-0 lead well into the second half, but in the 71st minute Lasell would tie the game when Kyle Cronin tapped in a loose ball in front of the goal.  However, just two minutes later Escudero would find sophomore Mamadou Dianko (Dakar, Senegal) for the close range goal to put NYU-Poly back up 2-1.

In the 84th minute, Lasell was rewarded a free kick from about 30 yards out from the left flank. An NYU-Poly defender headed the ball right into the back of the Lazers Mike Skelton. The deflection popped the ball up and over Petri, who had come off his line to attempt the punch save, resulting in the 2-2 tie.

The team would battle through the final six minutes, including a ferocious overtime, leading to Hurtado's heroics with just 45 ticks on the clock. In what was a very physical battle, the team combined for 37 fouls and seven cautions.

"We overcame so much adversity today to pick up a huge victory. To concede the lead twice and to answer both times was great to see from such a young team," said head coach Nate Kalin.

Lasell outshot the Jays 15-11 and held an advantage from the corner as well, at 7-1.  Yet, possession was slightly held in NYU-Poly's advantage,

NYU-Poly will play Green Mountain tomorrow at noon, while Lasell squares off the Farmingdale at 2:30pm.