Senior striker #JENNIFER ALBUJA# (Union City, NJ/Hoboken) is the NJCU women’s athlete of the week for the fourth time this season and the 12th time in her Gothic Knight career after chalking up four goals and two assists for 10 points in a 2-1 week of non-conference action for the New Jersey City University women’s soccer team. NJCU improved to 11-3 overall on the season.
Albuja achieved her sixth multiple-goal game and second hat trick this season while adding 17 shots, including seven on goal in 238 minutes of action.
In an 8-0 rout of John Jay College on October 4, Albuja scored the second goal of the game in the eighth minute and assisted on the third goal in the 15th minute, finishing with six shots (two on goal). Just 47 seconds after NJCU had scored its first goal of the game, Albuja collected her 15th goal of the season, directing a header from deep in the box over the opposing keeper off a corner kick. Then at 14:33, she set up a goal by teammate and senior striker #JULIA CASERES3 (Union, NJ/Union) with a perfect cross from the right endline.
In a 1-0 road overtime loss at Mount Saint Mary on October 6, Albuja had five shots, including two on goal.
In a 7-0 blanking of York College on October 8, Albuja notched her second hat trick of the season and 12th of her career, finishing with a game-high seven points with one assist. She had six shots (three on goal) in 73 minutes, and played much of the second half as NJCU’s sweeper—a position where she earned All-New Jersey Athletic Conference accolades in 2010 after receiving All-NJAC honors as a forward in 2007 and 2008.
Albuja increased her career scoring totals to 184 points on 84 goals and 16 assists in 73 career games in the York win. She equaled the program career record for games played and games started (73) while tallying her 16th career game-winning goal—one shy of Caseres’ record of 17. Albuja had six shots (three on goal).
Albuja, who scored the first, fourth and seventh goals of the game, registered her 16th, 17th and 18th of the season to move into a tie for second place in New Jersey Athletic Conference history for most career points among men’s or women’s players.
Just 2:16 into the game, Albuja received a pass and made one dribble to fool the opposing goalkeeper before tapping a close shot home for a 1-0 lead. NJCU gained a 4-0 lead at 28:28 as Albuja split two defenders before unleashing a shot into the left of the net. She assisted on the fifth goal of the game less than three minutes into the second half on a cross to Caseres before she made it 7-0 early in the 53rd minute when she received a cross from the left endline, and pinpointed a header shot off the underside of the crossbar and into the target.
Albuja and Caseres are the all-time leading goal-producing combination in Division III history with 177 goals, and in the win over York became just the eighth 400-point scoring combination in known Division III history. With a combined 410 career points, the pair is tied for sixth in Division III history for most points by two teammates.
On the season, Albuja leads NJCU in goals (18), points (42), shots (79), shots on goal (44) and overtime game-winning goals (2) while ranking third in assists (6) in 1165 minutes of action over 14 games (all starts). Her four game-winners are tied for the club lead. She has also scored the first goal of a game twice and has one game-tying goal.
Among the NJAC statistical leaders as of October 9, Albuja, the 2007 NJAC Rookie of the Year, leads the conference in points and points per game (3.00) and is tied for first in goals, goals per game (1.29), game-winning goals and game-winners per game (0.29). She lists second in shots and shots per game (5.64), third in assists, and fifth in assists per game (0.43). |
