New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

NEWARK, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University led 2-0 at halftime, aided by a first half goal and assist by rookie midfielder KAITLYN LIMA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), but Rutgers-Newark rallied with three second half goals, the final marker coming with just 1:25 remaining, as the Scarlet Raiders outlasted NJCU, 3-2, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's soccer game under the lights on October 10 at Alumni Field.
 
NJCU (5-8-2, 1-5-0 NJAC) would have moved into a tie for the sixth and final NJAC Tournament spot with a victory, but the Knights chances of qualifying for a third straight conference tournament took a serious blow with the loss to the Raiders (3-11-1, 1-4-1 NJAC). R-N leads the all-time series, 11-2.
 
R-N outshot NJCU, 23-14, primarily in the second half when the hosts had a 14-5 advantage in shots after each team attempted nine shots in the opening half. R-N had a 15-7 edge in shots on goal, forcing NJCU sophomore All-Conference goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) to make 12 saves—seven in the first half and five in the second period. Hoffman reached double digits in saves for the seventh time this season and the 12^th time in her career.
 
Eerily similar to the NJCU/R-N men's game earlier in the day when the Knights led 2-0 at halftime before the Raiders rallied to win in overtime (5-4), Rutgers-Newark scored goals in the 57^th, 70^th and 89^th minutes, to overcome NJCU markers in the 12^th and 31^st minutes.
 
Sophomore defender OLYMPIA SCIORTINO (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) scored her second goal of the season to account for NJCU's second goal after Lima's sixth goal of the season made it 1-0.
 
R-N had three different goal scorers as sophomore midfielder Sarah Cunha (Hillside, NJ/Union Catholic), junior midfielder Renae McEvoy (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) and freshman midfielder Cristina Estremera (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) tallied goals; McEvoy added an assist on the winner. Sophomore Victoria Nunez (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) made her first start of the season in net and set aside five shots.
 
NJCU jumped out to a 1-0 lead 11:59 into the game as Lima fired a shot off Nunez. She gathered the rebounded save near the left edge of the box and put the ball inside the left post.
 
The lead increased to 2-0 at the 30:33 mark as Lima delivered a perfectly place corner kick from the left side, setting up Sciortino for a header goal into the middle of the net. It was Lima's sixth assist of the season as she tied for the team lead with 18 points.
 
Rutgers-Newark got on the board at 56:31 when Hoffman and a Gothic Knight defender collided in the box on a crossing pass.  Cunha gathered the loose ball and put the unassisted goal into the open net for her third score of the season.
 
Another unassisted goal allowed the Raiders to tie it at 69:44 as McEvoy picked up a loose ball on a defensive clear in front of the box and knotted the score with a shot into the right side with her third goal of the season.
 
Hoffman kept the score close by stopping three Raider breakaways in the second half.  In the 62^nd minute, she forced Estremera wide on a breakaway try from the right side as the attempt glanced off the right post.  Hoffman also made diving saves to stop breakaways by Cunha in the 79^th minute and Estremera in the 82^nd.
 
But the Raiders won it six minutes later as McEvoy slipped a thru ball to Estremera, who dribbled to the right edge of the box before firing a shot past a diving Hoffman. Lima's desperation shot in the final second sailed wide.
 
NJCU faces a stiff challenge on Saturday, October 13 when it hosts #21 ranked Montclair State University in a 1 p.m. NJAC game at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.