New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

NEW PALTZ, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior striker JULIA CASERES (Union, NJ/Union) moved within one point of becoming only the 32^nd player in Division III women's soccer history to score 200 career points, as she netted three goals and one assist and New Jersey City University outshot SUNY-Canton 25-6 as the Gothic Knights crushed the Roos, 8-0, in the opening round of the Michelle Vargas-Robin Memorial Tournament on Saturday at SUNY-New Paltz.
 
NJCU (2-0) will face the host Hawks in Sunday's championship game at 1:30 p.m. New Paltz erased Maritime College by the same 8-0 score in the tournament's other opening round game. It was the first-ever meeting between NJCU and Canton.
 
Caseres notched her 11^th hat trick in three seasons at NJCU and her eighth career game with at least seven points for the Knights, while scoring the first, third and fifth goals of the game. She extended her school record for career game-winners to 14, and contributed her 25^th assist as a Gothic Knight—one shy of the program record of 26 by current assistant coach Katie Feehan (2004-07). Caseres increased her overall Division III career totals to 83 goals, 33 assists and 199 points and her 2011 totals to five goals and two assists.
 
Senior forward JENNIFER ALBUJA (Union City, NJ/Hoboken) registered her 150^th career point, scoring her 69^th goal for NJCU and third of the season in the victory, giving her three markers on the season while moving into fifth place in scoring in New Jersey Athletic Conference history.
 
Sophomore center midfielder BRIANNA TAYLOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) notched her second goal of the season and picked up two assists for a four-point effort. Junior forward ANGELICA GLOVER (Union, NJ/Union Catholic), who scored 14 goals in two seasons at Bard College, netted her first after transferring to NJCU this season.
 
Junior forward KELSEY PLASKON (Clifton, NJ/Queens of Peace) netted her first goal of the year and rookie forward ISLEY PEREZ (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) bagged her first collegiate goal. Senior defender MARGIE ALFANO (Randolph, NJ/West Orange) added an assist for the Knights.
 
NJCU rookie goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) made four saves to record her first collegiate shutout.
 
The Roos received seven saves in 64:37 from freshman goalie Colleen Fagan (Bath, NY), who allowed six goals. Sophomore Holli-Jo Cota (Ogdensburg, NY) made one save against two goals in 25:23. Canton also had one team save.
 
“We started off slow but with some minor adjustments they picked up the intensity and put more passes together and it worked out for the best,” noted sixth-year head coach ROBERT BIELAN. “They [Canton] were playing us with an offside trap. Once we realized that, we started making more fluid passes and took advantage of our speed, attacking them from the outside”
 
NJCU outshot the Roos 9-2 in the opening period and led 3-0 at the half. Caseres put NJCU on the board at 12:15 of the first half when she used a left-footed shot to beat the keeper with the eventual game-winner off a cross over the goalie from Taylor.
 
Glover made it 2-0 at 20:43 when she gathered a deflection at the top left corner of the box and planted a strong shot into the net. At 30:03, Caseres stole a ball at midfield, beat the Canton defense on a breakaway and scored on a 1-on-1 with the keeper.
 
Albuja netted her third goal of the season just 61 seconds into the second half when she secured a turnover at the top of the box and turned it into a 4-0 lead.
 
Caseres and Taylor connected on back-to-back goals at 56:29 and 64:37. Caseres headed in a Taylor corner kick for a 5-0 margin before Caseres fed her teammate for a 6-0 edge.
 
Plaskon scored just 51 seconds after the Taylor marker, tucking a shot thru the box into the right side of the target. NJCU concluded the scoring at 75:19 as Alfano slipped a pass on the ground to Perez who buried her first goal.  
 

GAME NOTES:

JENNIFER ALBUJA surpassed Amanda Kurdyla of William Paterson University (2005-08; 66 goals, 17 assists, 149 points) for fifth place in NJAC history in scoring.