New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University senior center midfielder BRIANNA TAYLOR (Linden, NJ/Linden) scored her seventh goal of the season in the 29^th minute to force a 1-1 tie before Kean University scored three unanswered goals, the final two by senior forward Carly Seidel (Winslow Township, NJ/Winslow Twp.), who netted a hat trick as the Cougars defeated NJCU, 4-1, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's soccer game on September 26 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.

Kean, winners of five straight, entered as the No. 8 ranked team in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) NCAA Division III South Atlantic Region and received 31 points (equivalent to a No. 29 national ranking) in the latest D3soccer.com national poll. The Cougars, who lead the all-time series, 18-1, improve to 8-1 and maintain a share of first place in the NJAC (3-0, nine points). NJCU (3-6-2, 1-3 NJAC), drops its second straight.
 
The Cougars held a 25-19 advantage in shots, which were even at 13-13 in the second half. Kean was whistled for 12 offsides.
 
Seidel scored Kean's first three goals, her seventh, eighth and ninth markers of the season, giving her 20 points on the year. Freshman forward Deanna Columbia (Howell, NJ/Howell) netted her fifth goal of the season—all in reserve minutes—to put the game out of reach for the guests.
 
Senior midfielder Julianna Natale (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) assisted on the final two goals for Kean. Senior midfielder Kristen Hager (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood) and junior midfielder Carla Vitola (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) each had a first half assist.
 
In defeat, sophomore goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) collected eight saves, and broke up several other breakaway chances before they could develop into shots.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Samantha Blair (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township) played the first 73:27 in net, making four saves versus one goal—just the third she has allowed all season. Sophomore Kaitlin King (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional), the 2011 NJAC Rookie of the Year, saw her first action of the season over the final 16:33, making one save.
 
Kean entered the game with a consecutive scoreless minutes streak of 315:01 which was snapped at 343:49 after Taylor's penalty kick tied the game at 1-1 at 28:48 of the first half. It was just the fifth goal allowed by the Cougars all season.
 
The Cougars had a 12-6 advantage in first half shots and took a 1-0 lead just 7:27 into the action as Hager slipped a thru ball from the midfield circle to Seidel, who spun past an NJCU defender and sprinted to the box on a breakaway, scoring inside the right post.
 
Each team had other early chances. Senior midfielder CHELSEA SPETHMANN (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights-Wood Ridge) hit the crossbar on a shot in the seventh minute and junior forward Amanda Repko (Hamilton, NJ/Notre Dame) lofted a shot off the top right post in the 26^th minute.
 
Early in the 29^th minute, Repko was whistled for a foul in the box and Taylor was awarded a penalty kick, burying her third PK of the season on the ground into the lower right side of the net. It was her 12^th goal in two seasons as a Gothic Knight.
 
Taylor had another opportunity to score in the box off a long throw in from Spethmann in the 33^rd minute, before Blair made a save, trapping the ball between her legs on a slide stop.
 
But Kean would get the eventual winner at the 39:33 mark as Vitola sent a long pass downfield from the right sideline, sending Seidel in on a breakaway for a 2-1 lead.
 
Senior midfielder ANGELICA GLOVER (Union, NJ/Union Catholic) nearly tied it at the 41:00 mark, but Blair made a save in a 1-on-1 when Glover's touch trickled too far.
 
Leading 2-1 at the half, Kean got an insurance marker at 51:45. Natale dumped a harmless looking ball deep downfield from the midfield circle. With a burst of speed, Seidel beat two defenders to the ball. Hoffman raced off her line to try to block the shot but Seidel was able to flick a shot from a few yards inside the right endline on a difficult angle, into the bottom far left side netting for a 3-1 margin, to complete the hat trick. Seidel finished with five shots, including four on goal.
 
Seidel had another shot with 33:11 left that was smothered by a diving Hoffman. Taylor nearly made it a one-goal game in the 59^th minute when she flicked a free kick from sophomore defender DEVON WILLIAMS (Neptune City, NJ/Neptune) just wide of the left post from the goalmouth.
 
Columbia, who has not started a game this season yet is Kean's second leading scorer, tallied her fifth goal of the season at 85:29 to cap it. Natale made a long side-legged pass downfield and Columbia followed the breakaway into the box, shooting high over a charging Hoffman for the final marker.
 
NJCU is back in action on Saturday, September 29 at 2 p.m. when it faces York College (NY) in a non-conference game in Maspeth, NY. Kean hosts Ramapo College in an NJAC game that day at 1 p.m.