New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University used goals by senior midfielder ANGELICA GLOVER (Union, NJ/Union Catholic), freshman midfielder KAITLYN LIMA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) and senior forward BRIANNA TAYLOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) to jump out to a 3-1 lead and held off a late push by Ramapo College to defeat the Roadrunners, 3-2, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's soccer game on September 19 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.

The Gothic Knights (3-4-2, 1-1 NJAC) win their first NJAC game of the season and their second game in a row, while sending Ramapo (3-3, 0-2 NJAC) to defeat for the third consecutive season. Ramapo, which narrowly outshot NJCU, 15-14, still leads the all-time series, 15-4-1. NJCU put eight of its 14 shots on goal.
 
Sophomore defender and co-captain DEVON WILLIAMS (Neptune City, NJ/Neptune) led a defensive contingent that allowed just six shots on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) made four saves and disrupted several other scoring opportunities for RCNJ before they could develop into shots.
 
Senior midfielder CHELSEA SPETHMANN (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights-Wood Ridge) contributed two assists on the Knights first two scores, and both Williams and Taylor collected assists; Taylor finished with a three-point effort.
 
Senior AMANDA SPETHMANN (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights-Wood Ridge), junior KARLA REYES-ABRIL (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) and freshman KAYLA LOCKARD (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) each played a full 90 minutes of smothering defense in front of Hoffman to compliment the efforts of Williams. 
Ramapo received a game-tying goal from junior defender Melanie Bertoli (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Hills) at the 19:00 mark and a late goal from junior midfielder Catherine Giancaspro (Mahwah, NJ/Mahwah) in the 82^nd minute. Freshman defender Nicole Ninomiya (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville) added her third assist of the year for RCNJ. Junior goalkeeper Talia Auslin (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) made five saves for the guests.

“We're in a rebuilding year so we have to learn to win in different ways than in our past seasons,” said seventh-year head coach Robert Bielan. “We have to be creative and constantly thinking and new people need to step up from past seasons. If we continue to get healthy, work together, and people keep stepping up, this could be a better than anticipated season.”
  
NJCU outshot the visitors 9-7 in the opening period and took the lead just 5:54 into the action as CHELSEA SPETHMANN slipped a perfectly placed thru ball up the middle of the field from the right of the midfield circle, splitting the Ramapo defense while sending Glover off to the races on a 30-yard sprint to the net, before she tucked a shot past Auslin into the lower right side for a 1-0 lead.
 
Ramapo tied it at the 19:00 mark as Ninomiya delivered a pass from the left of the box across the middle of the interior box. Freshman midfielder Jaimie Towey (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) swung and missed at an initial chance in the center of the goalmouth before Bertoli, who was left unmarked to the right of Towey one-timed a shot inside the right post for her second goal of the year.
 
NJCU reclaimed a 2-1 lead just over seven minutes later. CHELSEA SPETHMANN fired a throw-in from the left sideline to Taylor, who slipped a pass into the box to Lima for a 1-on-1 opportunity before burying a shot at the 26:17 mark for her third career tally. The double assist gave Taylor her second of the season and CHELSEA SPETHMANN her first. The game would head to halftime with NJCU up, 2-1.
 
NJCU increased the lead with a key insurance goal that proved to be the game-winner at the 59:02 mark. After a Ramapo foul, DEVON WILLIAMS unleashed a long, high free kick from the midfield circle. Taylor, in the middle of the box, snapped a vicious header inside the right post for a sensational score that made it 3-1, with her sixth goal of the season and Williams' first assist.
 
Ramapo made it a one-goal game with just 8:36 remaining. After a defensive giveaway led to a loose ball in the air, Giancaspro won possession and uncorked a hard shot from the top of the box into the lower left corner, tying the game with her fourth tally of the year.
 
Lima nearly scored again at the 86:48 mark on a breakaway off a steal from the defense before missing just high and right on a 1-on-1. But that was enough as Ramapo did not have another shot on goal the remainder of the game and just two final shots after scoring for the second time.
 
Hoffman made several notable saves to keep NJCU in front. At the 16:57 mark she charged the top of the box and stuffed a breakaway shot by Towey. She made another leaping save at the 33:56 mark, diving towards the far right post to snatch a shot out of the air off the foot of senior midfielder Rebecca Maccia (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro).
 
Glover finished with a game-high five shots, including three on goal while Taylor had four chances (two on goal) and Lima three shots. Towey attempted four shots to lead Ramapo while Maccia collected three shots; each player put two on goal.
 
NJCU heads south to Glassboro, NJ for its next game on Saturday, September 22 at 1 p.m. against Rowan University. Ramapo faces Rutgers-Newark at 12 p.m. that day in Newark, NJ.