After nearly two years without any game action, New York University's Men's Soccer Team took on Rutgers University-Camden at the Stockton Classic in Galloway, NJ, on Saturday, September 4, to open their 2021 season. The teams battled for 110 minutes without a goal on either side for the hard-fought draw.

"Obviously we want to win. But, we've been through a lot, the country's been through a lot, and I just have to keep bringing it back to the fact that we're playing and are about as back to normal as we can be," said Head Coach Kim Wyant. "I just try to appreciate that and be grateful for that."

The Violets (0-0-1) were aggressive in the first half, out-shooting Rutgers-Camden (1-0-1) 5-2 in the opening 45 minutes. NYU's experienced defense, anchored by captains Isaiah Boyd (Charlotte, NC/Mallard Creek), Pablo Vargas (Weston, FL/Cypress Bay) and Louis Meeks (Ann Arbor, MI/Greenhills School), performed well throughout the game, holding the Scarlet Knights to four total shots and just one on goal.

"Having a year and a half off from playing organized soccer, it actually felt weird to me being back on the field," said Boyd. "It felt nice as well, playing with the guys and going through warmups. It was exciting and I forgot how much I missed being able to play."

NYU's trio of senior defenders didn't allow a shot in either overtime period. Oliver Kleban (Denver, CO/Blind Brook) had a scoring opportunity in the 100th minute, but his shot to the bottom right corner of the net was saved by Rutgers' keeper Connor Smith.

"We have the benefit of having played for so long together and we were all top-three in minutes as sophomores," said Boyd of he, Meeks and Vargas. "We have that chemistry and ability to talk to each other on the field. For us on the back line, we defend first and we did our jobs today."

Newcomer Arkan Tahsildaroglu (Istanbul, Turkey/Berkshire School (MA)) fired off a game-high three shots (one on goal), while seven different Violets' attempted a shot in the game. The Scarlet Knights led in corner kicks 5-4 and NYU goalkeeper Luca Mancuso (Miami, FL/Montverde Academy) saved the lone shot he saw on goal.

"I'm not surprised that we had a clean sheet today and they didn't really have a lot of go's at us that were dangerous," added Wyant. "It's because we have so much experience in the back. Everything looks very promising. We got good performances out of every single player on the field today."

The Violets are back on the pitch tomorrow, September 5, facing host Stockton University at 3:30pm to wrap up the Classic.