New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

EWING, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior striker JENNIFER ALBUJA (Union City, NJ/Hoboken) became the first Gothic Knight to ever score against long-time national power The College of New Jersey, netting her 20^th goal of the season in the 15^th minute, but the #14/20 ranked Lions were too strong, sending NJCU to a 6-1 loss in a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's soccer game on Saturday at the TCNJ Soccer Complex.
 
TCNJ, the two-time defending conference champions, and winners of 14-of-17 NJAC titles since the championship's inception in 1994, remained undefeated and in first place in the league with a 10-2-2 overall and 7-0-0 NJAC record and 21 points. NJCU fell to 12-6 with the loss, 3-4 in the NJAC.
 
The Lions entered the game ranked No. 14 in Division III by D3soccer.com and #20 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
 
The Lions put 20 of their 35 shots on goal and outshot NJCU, 35-7. Six of NJCU's seven shots were on goal. TCNJ used 26 players and was whistled for 18 offsides.
 
Albuja netted the 86^th goal and 190^th point of her career in her 77^th game and reached the 20-goal plateau for the third time in her four seasons. Sophomore center midfielder BRIANNA TAYLOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) notched her eighth assist of the season in defeat.
 
Freshman goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) made a career-high 14 saves, including several diving stops, and stopped 10 shots alone in the second half. She reached double figures in saves for the fourth time in her career and third game in a row.
 
Senior defender Brittany McGinley (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) and freshman forward Leigh Applestein (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) each scored twice for the Lions. TCNJ got single goals from sophomore defender Lauren Giles (Deptford, NJ/Deptford Twp.) and junior midfielder Amy Van Dyk (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo). Six different Lions had an assist. Lion rookie keeper Cristina Gacos (Sea Girt, NJ/Wall) made four saves for her 10th win of the season.
 
The Lions took at 1-0 lead at the 3:47 mark when Giles netted her first career goal, knocking in the crossbar rebound of a shot by Sloan DePiero (Ramsey, NJ/Ramsey), who picked up the assist.
 
TCNJ, which gained a 3-0 lead in the first 13:21 of action, made it 2-0 at 10:13 as McGinley who scored her ninth and 10^th goals of the season, notched the game-winner off a Van Dyk helper, before Van Dyk tallied her second goal of the season at 13:21 off an assist from junior forward Katie Landrigan (Rutherford, NJ/Rutherford).
 
Albuja's NJAC-leading 20^th goal—the first against the Lions since the series began with TCNJ posting shutouts in the first 16 meetings—was described as an absolute cannon of a shot. Taylor received a pass from the left, split two defenders with a bouncing pass onto the feet of Albuja, who half-volleyed a lightning-bolt of a shot from the left side, just inside the top of the 18.
 
NJCU came within inches of making it a 3-2 game as Albuja sent a shot at TCNJ's goal, but junior defender Lauren Diogaurdi (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills) used her body to stop the ball before crossing the goal line and was credited with a team save. Albuja had four of NJCU's seven shots and all four were on goal.
 
The Lions got the goal back at 17:48, gaining a 4-1 lead as McGinley scored off of a low shot off an assist by senior defender Annie McCarthy (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial).
 
Leading 4-1 at the half with a 14-5 shots advantage, TCNJ outshot NJCU 21-2 in the second half, but was only able to score twice more—when Applestein scored her first two collegiate goals off assists from freshman forward Korrie Harkins (Wenonah, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) and freshman defender Claire Whiteman (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) in the 76^th and 82^nd minutes.
 
While NJCU has already clinched its second consecutive NJAC Tournament berth, the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament will be at stake when the Knights host sixth-place Rutgers University-Camden on Wednesday, October 26 at 3:30 p.m. at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field. NJCU will enter the game with nine points versus seven for Camden. The winner of the game will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament and travel to face the No. 4 seed in the NJAC Quarterfinals on October 29; either Montclair State University or Richard Stockton College.
 
NJCU will also celebrate Senior Day and will honor its exceptional senior class that includes Albuja, standout striker JULIA CASERES (Union, NJ/Union), midfielder MARGIE ALFANO (Randolph, NJ/West Orange), and co-captain defenders ERICA BUONACQUISTA (Aberdeen, NJ/Bayonne) and NICOLE SARICA (Linden, NJ/Linden).