NYU-Polytechnic used a late first half goal with :19 left to take a 1-0 lead at intermission, then made the most of a steady second-half counter-attacking style, to take a 3-1 win over the visiting Dolphins in what was the season-opening game for both teams this afternoon at Aviator Field in Brooklyn, New York. The Dolphins fell to 0-1, while the Fighting Blue Jays start their young season 1-0.
In 2009, the two teams played to a scoreless half before NYU-Poly scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second stanza to garner a 4-1 win. 2010's installment seemed eerily similar. The Blue Jays earned the first two quality chances of the afternoon as, on both occasions, a streaking Mamadou Dianko raced past a CSI defense, only to put balls just inches wide of CSI keeper Ahmed El-Ghareib within the game's first 20 minutes.
From there, the game teetered back and forth, as both teams traded good chances. A Kenneth Zaw strike from just beyond the goal mouth skipped wide of NYU-Poly keeper Robert Petri, while a thunderous shot from CSI's Lirim Begai sailed high over the crossbar with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half. Inside of five minutes to play in the frame, however, CSI's defense let their guard slip, and a series of failed clear-out attempts led to NYU-Poly chances. The last of which came inside of a minute when after a CSI turnover, NYU-Poly's Adrian Hurtado put a high through-ball over the CSI defense onto the waiting head of Adam Lakawitz, who rainbowed a header past El-Ghareib to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead with just 19 ticks remaining in the frame.
Up 1-0 at the break, NYU-Poly made the most of CSI's attempt to equalize, by throwing numbers on a counterattack early in the second frame. Just four minutes in, the home team doubled their lead when Giovanni Ormachi buried a shot from 15 yards away on a feed from Marcello Escudero. The Dolphins cried foul when it appeared that Escudero had played the ball with his hand, and indeed, many of the players on both sides of the ball stopped play after the supposed incident. Play continued, however, allowing Ormachi to put in the goal at CSI's protest, and putting the Dolphins down 2-0 with 40 minutes left to play.
At the 68-minute mark, NYU-Poly tallied again, this time on a shot by Mohamed Ndou from the right side on another CSI failed clearing attempt, putting the Blue Jays clearly in control, 3-0.
From there, however, CSI did play well. Even with five defenders on the back line, the Dolphins were able to maintain possession and get off shots. After being untested for a majority of the game, Petri made three saves inside of the final 20 minutes, part of five total on the game. CSI finally hit paydirt in the 80th minute, when a lined lead pass by Dong Luu in the midfield found a streaking Ibrahim Mubaric on the left side. The young freshman shed a defender and put a nice shot past Petri for the goal, his first career tally, cutting the lead to 3-1.
CSI wasn't able to garner a shot on goal from there, seeing a lone shot by Zaw sail wide-right, as NYU-Poly took the win by a 3-1 final.
Poly out-shot the Dolphins, 22-12 (13-6 on goal). El-Ghareib made 10 saves for the Dolphins, including a pair of exceptional sprawling saves as time expired. The Blue Jays earned six corner kicks to the Dolphins' zero. The hot and muggy afternoon saw no bookings in what was a clean game that featured only 13 collective fouls.
CSI will get back to action this weekend. The team will travel to Madison, New Jersey, to take part in the Drew University Fall Festival Classic. Play will begin for CSI at 5pm on Saturday against Keystone College.
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