New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University freshman ALICIA WEBER (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) made 16 saves in her first collegiate action in goal, including numerous breakaway stops, but #21 ranked Montclair State University was too strong as the Red Hawks defeated NJCU, 5-2, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's soccer game on October 13 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
Weber, who had not seen a second of action in goal as a rookie while playing behind All-Conference sophomore goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township), and had been converted to a forward, faced 21 shots on goal as Montclair (13-1-1, 6-1-1 NJAC) outshot the Gothic Knights (5-9-2, 1-6 NJAC), 32-13, including 12-0 in the first half.
 
Montclair, ranked #21 in the latest D3soccer.com national poll—and as high as 17^th in the country earlier this season—and the #8 ranked school in the NSCAA NCAA Division III South Atlantic Region poll, entered in a three-way tie with The College of New Jersey and Rowan University in the NJAC standings. MSU leads the all-time series, 17-2.
 
Montclair had entered the game outscoring opponents 50-8 this season. Despite NJCU dealing with a number of injuries, the Knights became just the third school in 15 games to score multiple goals against the Red Hawks this season.
 
On a day where players from Kearny, NJ dominated, Montclair received a hat trick and seven points (three goals, one assist) from rookie forward Stefanie Gomes (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) while NJCU rookie midfielder KAITLYN LIMA (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) contributed to both Gothic Knight goals, netting her seventh goal and NJAC-leading seventh assist of the season.
 
Hoffman, who has led NJCU since she arrived on campus as a freshman in 2011, missed a game for the first time in her career after suffering an injury in warm-ups during the club's loss at Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday. The NCAA Division III national leader in minutes played (1390), Hoffman had played every second of every game for NJCU over the past two years and had a string of 37 consecutive games and 3411:41 consecutive minutes come to an end.
 
Weber showed no signs of rust or nerves, making 10 of her 16 saves in the second half, most of which were not routine. She blocked breakaway chances in the 24^th, 28^th, 53^rd, 55^th, 61^st, 76^th, 82^nd and 89^th minutes. Of those eight opportunities for Montclair, most were acrobatic, diving stops as point blank range.
 
Seventh-year head coach Robert Bielan, the 2011 NJAC Coach of the Year, was certainly impressed with the play of Weber, especially considering her first career action in net was coming against a nationally-ranked opponent.
 
“Weber was always an outstanding goalie and she always played really well. Two years ago I saw her play [in high school] and I was absolutely amazed. I expect nothing but the best from her. She's a product of Kearny [High] and Kearny produces a lot of good players. You can't underestimate anybody in this conference because people step up all the time and that was just a brilliant time for her to step up.”
 
Sophomore sweeper DEVON WILLIAMS (Neptune City, NJ/Neptune) scored her fifth goal of the season for the Gothic Knights while rookie defender KAYLA LOCKARD (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) was awarded her first collegiate point when credited with an assist on NJCU's first goal.
 
Gomes scored her ninth, 10^th and 11^th goals of the season against several of her former high school teammates, notching MSU's second, fourth and fifth goals. Sophomore forward Kaila Fasano (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) added her seventh goal and second assist of the season for a three-point effort and freshman midfielder Shawna Grabowski (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge) tallied her eighth goal of the season early in the second half for a 3-0 MSU advantage.
 
Freshman forward Jenae Geonnetti (Mount Laurel, NJ/Paul VI) had her sixth assist of the season for the Hawks while junior forward Steph Barbulescu (Franklin, NJ/Pope John XXIII) added her third assist. Sophomore goalie Gina Policastro (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) made three saves for the visitors.
 
After Weber and the NJCU defense held Montclair off the board for most of a first half dominated offensively by the guests, MSU finally broke through with two goals in a span of 1:42 in the 31^st and 33^rd minutes. At 30:22 Geonnetti played a thru ball up the middle to set up a long breakaway for Fasano, who sidestepped a diving Weber and stuck a shot into a wide-open top left corner.
 
At 32:05, Fasano played a thru ball onto the left side of the box and Gomes slipped a shot underneath Weber, who dove towards the far left post to try to block the chance. Montclair led 2-0 at the half.
 
NJCU, playing its first home game since September 26 after a four-game road trip, was much more aggressive in the second half, but Montclair did have a 20-13 lead in shots in the period. Just 4:24 into the period, Gomes dribbled onto the left wing and played a pass into the box where Grabowski finished a one-timer into the right side.
 
Just over two minutes later NJCU broke up the shutout. Senior defender CHELSEA SPETHMANN (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights-Wood Ridge) made a throw in from the near left sideline. On the left post, Lockard flipped a ball that was deflected in front of the right post. Lima was unmarked and buried a close-range open look at the net for a 3-1 deficit at 51:31.
 
MSU would expand the lead to 4-1 at the 61:59 mark. Gomes went in on a breakaway opportunity but was denied by a diving Weber. The NJCU defense could not clear the rebound in time and Gomes poked the second chance into the lower right side.
 
NJCU again made it a two-goal deficit at the 70:14 mark. Lima played a precise corner kick from the far right sideline into the box where Williams poked the ball over a leaping Policastro and into the upper left corner.
 
Bielan, discussing his team's ability to put two goals in against a solid offensive and defensive side such as Montclair said: “I never make excuses. I don't believe in them. For a team going through transition, with a lot of my starters out or injured, and for the girls to step up and put in two goals against a quality caliber team like Montclair, I am very proud of them.”
 
But NJCU would not score again and the visitors added an insurance goal four minutes later (74:12) as Barbulescu made a side-legged pass onto the left wing from the midfield circle, sending Gomes in on another breakaway, dribbling in before one-timing a shot into the lower near right side. Weber had three breakaway chances in the final 15 minutes but NJCU was only able to come up with two more shots following the fifth MSU goal.
 
Fasano had a game-high nine shots for Montclair (five on goal) while Gomes and Grabowski each had seven shots with six on target. Senior center midfielder BRIANNA TAYLOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) led NJCU with four shots.
 
NJCU will seek to snap a three-game losing streak on Monday, October 15 when it hosts St. Joseph's College (LI) in a non-conference home game at 3 p.m. It will be the second meeting of the season between the schools; the Eagles defeated NJCU, 3-0, on September 7 in a neutral field contest in Newark, NJ at the Scarlet Raiders Women's Soccer Classic. Montclair is also in action that day, visiting Eastern University at 4 p.m.