Senior striker #JENNIFER ALBUJA# (Union City, NJ/Hoboken) is the NJCU women’s athlete of the week for the third week in a row and the 11th time in her Gothic Knight career after factoring in the scoring of all three goals as the Gothic Knight women’s soccer team rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the final 13 minutes to remain undefeated (9-0-0) with a 3-1 road win over Ramapo College on September 21.
NJCU, now 2-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference for the first time ever, won in Mahwah for the first time in its history. Albuja assisted on the game-tying goal before notching the game-winning and insurance goals in the 81st and 89th minutes, respectively. The final goal was the 80th of Albuja’s career. Albuja had 10 of NJCU’s 23 shots, including five on goal, as the Knights outshot Ramapo, 23-14, including a decisive 16-4 margin in the second half.
Albuja netted her NCAA Division III leading 13th and 14th goals and 32nd points of the season, as well as her third game-winner of the year and 15th career game-winner. It was Albuja’s fourth consecutive multiple-goal game and her fifth such game this year. Albuja now has 174 career points on 80 goals and 14 assists in 68 games at NJCU. Albuja, second in the history of NJAC women’s soccer (to teammate Julia Caseres) in goals and points, is now third among men or women in NJAC history in total scoring.
With NJCU trailing 1-0 in the 77th minute, Albuja split two defenders with a pass onto the feet of a sprinting #ERICA BUONACQUISTA# (Aberdeen, NJ/Bayonne), who scored the tying goal.
The game would only remain tied for 4:21. Late in the 81st minute, Albuja received a pass from 20 yards out on the outside left side of the box. There, she turned and unleashed a shot into the upper right corner for a 2-1 lead at 80:49.
NJCU put the game away mid-way through the 89th minute. Albuja received a pass at the top of the box. Her initial shot beat the opposing keeper but caromed off the left post. Albuja then knocked home a left-footed shot of her own rebound for a 3-1 cushion at 88:28.
For the season, Albuja has 14 points, four assists and 32 points on 58 shots, including 36 on goal for a .621 shots on goal percentage. She has three game-winning goals, two overtime goals, one hat trick, one game-tying and one first goal while starting all nine games. Her 747 minutes played are sixth most on the squad.
In the NJAC statistical rankings as of September 27, Albuja, the national scoring leader, leads the league in points per game (3.56) and game-winners, lists second in points, goals, shots (58) and shots per game (6.44), third in goals per game (1.56), fourth in assists, and sixth in assists per game (0.44).
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