New Jersey City University Athletics

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JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior striker JENNIFER ALBUJA (Union City, NJ/Hoboken) scored her 21^st goal and 50^th points of the season and 87^th goal of her career while senior striker JULIA CASERES (Union, NJ/Union) netted her 97^th career goal as New Jersey City University clinched the No. 5 seed in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament with a 2-1 victory over Rutgers University-Camden in the regular season finale for both schools on Wednesday at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
NJCU snaps a three-game losing streak and wins its 13^th game of the season (13-6) while finishing the year with a .500 conference record (4-4)—it's best league record in program history. NJCU qualifies for the NJAC Tournament for the second consecutive season and for the second year in a row will face fourth-seeded Richard Stockton College in Pomona, NJ in the NJAC Quarterfinals on Saturday, October 29 (time to be announced).
 
Rutgers-Camden's season ends with the loss at 2-11-2 (2-5-1 NJAC). After starting the season at 0-10-2, the Scarlet Raptors needed a win or tie to complete a final week turnaround and qualify for the final berth in the six-team NJAC Tournament; with the loss William Paterson University beats out the Raptors on NJAC goal differential for the No. 6 seed.
 
Prior to the game, NJCU honored its distinguished senior class that included Albuja, Caseres, midfielder MARGIE ALFANO (Randolph, NJ/West Orange)  and three-year captains and defenders ERICA BUONACQUISTA (Aberdeen, NJ/Bayonne) and NICOLE SARICA (Linden, NJ/Linden). NJCU has posted a 49-32-1 record and won 11 NJAC games in the last four seasons.
 
NJCU outshot Camden, 29-8, including 16-3 in the second half. The two schools were called for a combined 16 offsides. NJCU defeated the Raptors for the third straight meeting; Camden leads the all-time series, 9-3.
 
While Caseres and Albuja combined for the 183^rd and 184^th goals of their careers—and all-time Division III record—the 'A-C Connection' now has a combined 427 points. That total is third in Division III history and just five points shy of the all-time record of 432 by a pair of Kalamazoo College players from 1989-93.
 
Caseres, who scored her school record 18^th career game-winning goal and 19^th goal of the season, moved into a tie for 15^th place in Division III history with 235 points and a tie for 19^th in career goals with 97. It was her 83^rd career game.
 
Freshman AMANDA FILIPPONE (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley) tallied her fourth assist of the season in the 15^th minute before sophomore center midfielder BRIANNA TAYLOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) notched her ninth assist of the year.
 
Freshman goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) made two saves and tied the single-season school record with her 13^th win in goal.
 
Camden's goal was scored by sophomore defender Bec Garretson (Atco, NJ/Hammonton)—her first points of the season—off a long pass by freshman midfielder Rebecca Gougher (Galloway, NJ/Absegami), who notched her first collegiate point. Sophomore keeper Leighanna Milby (Blackwood, NJ/Highland Regional) made six saves for the Raptors.
 
NJCU had a number of early scoring chances before finally breaking through at the 14:29 mark. Filippone collected a pass from Taylor, dished the ball with the side of her foot from the middle of the box to the left side and Albuja ripped a one-timer into the left side for her 21^st goal and 50^th point of the season.
 
NJCU nearly added a second goal in the 35^th minute on an attempt by Caseres, who had a game-high 10 shots (four on goal). Milby made a diving save to tip the ball away and NJCU led 1-0 at halftime.
 
The Knights added to its lead and tallied the eventual game-winner at the 56:32 mark. Sarica slipped a pass on the left wing to Taylor who dribbled to the sideline to elude defenders, before circling back, before bending a wicked, curving cross between a pair of fullbacks into the goalmouth. There, Caseres laid out, making a full, diving extension while connecting on a top-shelf header goal for her 19^th of the season and 48^th point. The goal was an ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 nominated play.
 
In the 73^rd minute, Albuja, who had five shots, made a double fake in the shot that nearly resulted in another goal. Caseres had a pair of goals waived off in the 86^th and 90^th minutes on offsides calls. Milby also made a great save, clutching a shot by Taylor at the 86:38 mark by her fingertips from point blank range. Taylor had seven shots for NJCU.
 
Camden used long passes during the game to try to create breakaways. In the 74^th minute, Sarica broke up a potential breakaway by senior forward Samantha Sharp (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddon Heights). But at 78:38, the Raptors game plan finally resulted in a marker. Gougher dumped a high pass over the Gothic Knight defense and Garretson ran onto the ball for a breakaway 1-on-1, finished into the left side to make it a one-goal game with 11:22 remaining. That was the final shot of the game by the Raptors as NJCU played lock-down defense to secure the victory.