Kim Wyant: “Everything has come together beautifully.” (FrontRowSoccer.com Photo)
The New York University men are returning to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2010.
The Violets were chosen as an at-large selection, it was announced in Monday’s NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Selection Show.
The Violets, who finished 12-4-1 overall and 3-3-1 in the University Athletic Association, will play against Centennial Conference champion Haverford College (14-4, 8-1) at Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J. Haverford enters the tournament on an 11-game winning streak, while the Violets stamped their ticket to the tournament with a regular-season-ending 1-0 victory over Brandeis University Saturday, with freshman Oliver Kleban scoring the game-winner with 16 seconds left in the second extratime.
“This is a great honor for our team and our program,” NYU head coach Kim Wyant saod. “The players have put in the work from the moment we started practicing. We went to Spain on a foreign tour this summer and it was a great success. It was a great opportunity to bond and really get to know each other. We’ve mixed in a great freshman class, as well, and everything has come together beautifully.”
New York owes much of its offensive success this season to Kleban, who leads the Violets in points (21, fifth in the UAA), goals (eight), assists (five), and game-winning goals (two).
Perhaps no one had a bigger impact on NYU’s success this year than senior Grant Engel, who emerged as one of the top goalkeepers in the UAA, He racked up six shutouts, 55 saves, a 0.61 goals against average (first in the UAA), and a .846 save percentage.
In NYU’s last appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2010, the Violets’ season ended in a 3-2 overtime loss to The College at Brockport. The Violets advanced to the Final Four in 2006, falling to Messiah College 3-0 in the National Semifinals.
NYU is one of five schools from the UAA competing in the tournament this year. The other four are Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, University of Rochester, and University of Chicago.
