New Jersey City University Athletics

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MAHWAH, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University's undefeated start to the 2011 soccer season was in jeopardy until senior defender ERICA BUONACQUISTA (Aberdeen, NJ/Bayonne) struck for her first goal of the season with just over 13 minutes remaining, and senior striker JENNIFER ALBUJA (Union City, NJ/Hoboken), who assisted on the game-tying goal, continued her explosive play, winning it with goals in the 81^st and 89^th minutes as the Gothic Knights used a surge to overcome Ramapo College, 3-1, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game on Wednesday at the Ramapo Athletic Center. The final goal was the 80^th of Albuja's career.
 
The Gothic Knights extended their school-record winning streak to nine while continuing the best start to a season in program history at 9-0-0. NJCU also improved to 2-0-0 in conference play for the first time in its history. Ramapo fell to 1-4-2 (0-2-0 NJAC) with the loss. It was the second straight win for NJCU over the Roadrunners and the Knights first-ever win over RCNJ in Mahwah. Ramapo leads the all-time series, 15-3-1.
 
The Gothic Knight women can now claim the best nine-game start to a season among men or women's teams in the history of the University. The 1966 men's soccer team was 8-0-1 after nine games.
 
“Games like this are sometimes won with individual efforts and Erica [Buonacquista] stepped up and answered the challenge, making an amazing run from midfield,” noted sixth-year head coach ROB BIELAN. “As soon as Erica scored that goal, we got a quick infusion of adrenaline—our second wind. After that, the conditioning we work on all year paid off and we came back the way we can—putting passes together and winning 50-50 balls. That is what they were trained to do. Good teams step up when they have to. Everyone stepped up after Erica's goal, especially JENNIFER ALBUJA and MARGIE ALFANO, and some of our freshmen. We played our NJCU style of soccer and it worked well for us.”
 
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 13^th and 14^th goals and 32^nd points of the season, as well as her third game- winner of the year and 15^th 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.
 
For Buonacquista, a three-year Gothic Knight team co-captain, her game-tying goal marked the second consecutive season she has netted an equalizer against Ramapo with her squad trailing 1-0. It was the fifth goal of her career.
 
Senior midfielder MARGIE ALFANO (Randolph, NJ/West Orange) added an assist on the game-winner goal—her second assist of the year—and helped set up the late insurance goal.
 
Freshman goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) continued to excel in net to begin her career, setting aside five Ramapo shots to keep NJCU within striking distance. Sophomore goalkeeper Talia Auslin (Fair Lawn, NJ/Fair Lawn) made eight saves for RCNJ, which also had a team save.
 
RCNJ, which had a 10-7 shots advantage in the first half, gained a 1-0 lead at 16:18 of the first half. Junior defender Samantha Belfer (South Brunswick, NJ/South Brunswick) found sophomore midfielder Rachael Viscusi (Blackwood, NJ/Highland) unmarked, and she scored her first goal of the season. That lead would hold up for more than 60 minutes.
 
Then in the 77^th minute, the Knights finally capitalized on their second-half pressure. With the ball at Albuja's feet, Buonacquista made a 40-yard sprint from the midfield and overlapped Albuja. Albuja   split two defenders with a pass onto Buonacquista's feet while going towards the goal and sprinted another 10 yards drawing Auslin off her line. Buonacquista made one touch to her right before cranking a shot across her body into the left side of the net, tying the game at 76:28.
 
The game would only remain tied for 4:21. Late in the 81^st minute, Alfano found Albuja 20 yards out on the outside left side of the box. There, Albuja turned and unleashed a shot into the upper right corner for a 2-1 lead at 80:49.
 
“It was a quick turn and rip,” Bielan described. “It was an awesome goal. A lot of the games we have been playing have been hard-fought. This was a good test for us being put on our heels early with them scoring a goal and then leading for 60 minutes.”
 
NJCU put the game away mid-way through the 89^th minute. Alfano won a 50-50 ball off a Ramapo defender, beat a defender on a run towards the goal with Albuja adjacent to her, and split two defenders with a pass at the top of the box. Albuja took a shot and the keeper dove, missing the ball, which 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.
 
Senior striker JULIA CASERES (Union, NJ/Union) had three shots (two on goal), while being heavily covered and sophomore center midfielder BRIANNA TAYLOR (Linden, NJ/Linden)  added four shots, with two on goal.
 
NJCU will seek to improve to 10-0 on Saturday, September 24 at 1 p.m. when it hosts Rowan University (3-3, 2-0 NJAC) in a conference game at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field. It won't be easy; the Knights have never defeated Rowan (0-13)—a program that has qualified for the NCAAs in six consecutive seasons dating to 2005.