Jays Drown Dolphins in Season Opener

NYU-Poly wins 3-1


BROOKLYN, NY -  With temperatures soaring near 100 degrees in Wednesday's season opener for the NYU-Poly men's soccer team, the Jays kept their cool after a lethargic first half, and cruised to a 3-1 non-conference win over College of Staten Island. Three different players scored for the Jays, who won their season opener for the first time in NYU-Poly history.

Junior Adam Lakawicz (Butler, NJ) gave the Jays a sigh of relief when he calmly headed a cross from freshmen Adrian Hurtado (Deer Park, NY)  over the outstretched arms of Dolphin keeper Ahmed El-Ghareil with under a minute to play in the first half.  It was a motivational lift for the Jays, who struggled to find their rhythym  for most of the half. The Jays outshot CSI 9-6 in the first frame, which included some early dangerous chances from forwards Mamadou Dianko (Dakar, Senegal) and Nick Michalczewski (Miami, FL).

The second half NYU-Poly came out inspired and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute with freshmen Giovanni Ormaeche (Ramey, NJ) recorded his first career collegiate goal as he side volleyed a pass from freshmen, and former club team teammate, Marcelo Escudero (Maywood, NJ). Then, in the 67th minute the Jays extended their lead to 3-0 with a tally by freshmen Mohamed Ndou (Dakar, Senegal) on an assist from Michalczewski. It was Ndou first collegiate goal as well.

The Jays made every effort to put the game away as Michalczewski was turned away twice by El-Ghareil. Freshmen Ridwan Huthman (West Orange, NJ) also had two quality looks in the final 15 minutes, but the CSI keeper again came up huge, diving to his right and deflecting the shots away.

With under 10 minutes to play, the NYU-Poly defense made it's lone mistake of the half and it was costly as the Dolpins Ibrahim Mubaric capitalized on miscue at the top of the box. He dribbled in on Jays keeper Rob Petri (St. Louis, MO) and tucked the shot just under the senior to set the final 3-1.

Petri made five saves, while El-Ghareil had a workout in goal, stopping 10 shots. NYU-Poly finished with 13 shots on goal, while CSI (0-1) had six. The Jays racked up six corner kicks, while CSI didn't manage one.

NYU-Poly (1-0) will head to Lasell College in Boston, MA this weekend for a Labor Day Classic against Lasell and Green Mountain Colleges.