For the second consecutive year, The New School Narwhals and Cooper Union Hawks soccer teams played each other for the Village Cup. The two sides decided to organize the game last October because neither team competes in a conference, which means they don’t get the chance to play for a championship.
After losing the inaugural match last year, Cooper was able to win the 2015 Village Cup, beating the Narwhals 2-1.
New School senior, Eddy Pierre, scored the Narwhals’ only goal of the match in the 73rd minute. Cooper gained the advantage in the match on a first half attack. The Hawks then scored the go-ahead on a free kick late in the second half.
“It was a really tight game that could’ve gone either way.” Said Narwhal goalkeeper Eric Wade. Wade, a senior, blamed himself for allowing Cooper’s first goal of the match, saying he made a poor mistake on defense.
“I think on the whole the team performed well yesterday.” Said New School junior Dash Fellner.
Fellner plays forward for the Narwhals. “Clearly yesterday’s performance wasn’t one of our best. Obviously, it’s never a nice feeling losing to your biggest rivals, especially when there’s silverware at stake.”
This game marked the second time the Narwhals and the Hawks met on the pitch this season. September 26’s match ended in a draw.
Fellner said that Cooper provides great competition for the Narwhals, but that he and his teammates know they let the match slip away on a free kick.
Fellner is confident that despite this setback the Narwhals will able to win at more of their upcoming games.
“I get very fired up when we play (Cooper) and they’re definitely the team I want to beat most,” Fellner said. “They have a very well rounded team which makes it hard for us but I think we have a far better team.”
The Hawks benefitted what Fellner described as a “blatant” handball late in the second half.
“But as I said, we know we are the better side so we shouldn’t feel too down on ourselves about yesterday’s result,” Fellner said.
“Despite the loss, I thought we played with a really high energy, especially in the lead up to our equalizing goal,” Wade said.
The soccer team takes on the Culinary Institute of America on Sat. Oct. 10 in Hyde Park, New York at 1:00 p.m.
Max is a Journalism major from Queens. He plays collegiate basketball for The New School Narwhals and spends the rest of his time watching and writing about the game.
