Jays clip Eagles 1-0, take 2nd at Raptors Classic

Annandale-on-Hudson, NY -  After falling 2-0 to tournament champion Southern Vermont last night, the NYU-Poly men's soccer team came out with one thought in mind in its first-ever meeting against Green Mountain College:win.  In what was a dominating performance, which saw NYU-Poly take a season-high 27 shots, it was senior Diego Schwartz's (Rego Park, NY / Forest Hills HS) shot that found net, giving the Fighting Blue Jays a 1-0 win over the Eagles.

The win put NYU-Poly in a tie with Bard College, as both teams finished 1-1. The tiebreaker was goals allowed, which gave NYU-Poly the advantage two to three and thus the runner-up in the four team event.

From the first whistle, NYU-Poly took control of the match and in the 6th minute nearly took the early lead as Nick Belesis (Marblehead, MA / Marblehead HS) free kick from the top of the arc hit the cross bar and then fell to the feet of Adam Lakawicz (Butler, NJ / Butler HS). Lakawicz's shot from the six went right to Eagle keeper Nate Kishbaugh. For Kishbaugh, it would be the first of nine saves on the day, keeping Green Mountain in the game early on and late in the game with clutch saves. He would snag another shot moments later by freshmen Nick Michalczewski (Miami, FL / Chaminade Madenna HS) and another by Belesis in the 23rd minute.

The Jays faced a huge challenge when freshmen center midfielder had to leave the game in the 30th minute. His absence allowed a once silenced Eagle attack, to kick into high gear. But, NYU-Poly goalkeeper Uriel Moreira (West Palm Beach, FL / Forrest HIlls HS) came up big twice in the match, turning away a Green Mountain breakaway in the 34th minute. Then in the 40th minute he made a diving save to his right on a shot by GM center midfielder Chris Gaskin, pushing his shot, headed for side netting, just wide of the post.

The NYU-Poly offense regained its presence in the second half and in the 63rd minute Schwartz buried a shot into the right side, off a pass from freshmen Omar Guerrero (Austin, TX / Stephen F. Austin HS). The assist was Guerrero's first collegiate point, as the outside midfielder owned the left flank in the second half, picking up two shots and slotting dangerous balls in the box. Moments later he found Lakawicz at the top of the box, but the sophomore's shot was turned away. Then just a moment later, Schwartz nearly notched another goal, as he rifled a shot from 25 yards that hit the post.

NYU-Poly maintained the pressure for nearly the whole half and Moreira was only tested once in the later 45 minutes mainly in part to the NYU-Poly defense of Joe Gabor (Warwick, NY / Warwick HS), Fred Byrne (Mantua, NJ / Clearview Regional HS), Gugu Toor (East Meadow, NY / East Meadow HS), and Juan Tamayo (Miami, FL), who all clamped down the Eagle attack.. Each team was awarded four corners. Moreira made seven saves in net. The Blue Jays open Skyline conference play Monday night against Yeshiva University @ 8:00pm.