New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Gothic Knight Insights feature, BRITTANY HOFFMAN

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Two-time All-New Jersey Athletic Conference junior goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) stopped at least 20 shots in a game for the fifth time this season but New Jersey City University trailed 2-0 at halftime and dropped a New Jersey Athletic Conference women's soccer game to rival Rutgers-Newark, 5-0, on October 16 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
Hoffman, who is ranked No. 4 nationally in saves per game, reached double figures in saves for the 18^th time in her career and  sixth consecutive game, making 11 stops in the first half and nine in the second period—including a penalty kick—to finish with 20 saves, thwarting numerous breakaway chances.
 
She faced heavy pressure from Rutgers-Newark (5-9-1, 1-4 NJAC), which had a 43-4 advantage in shots over NJCU (1-8-1, 0-6 NJAC), including 25 shots on goal.
 
R-N sophomore midfielder Cristina Estremera (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) netted a hat trick for the Scarlet Raiders—the second, third and fourth goals of the game and her seventh, eighth and ninth tallies of the season—while adding an assist for a seven-point outing. She finished with 10 shots including five on goal.
 
Freshman midfielder Paige Lazar (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) and junior forward Victoria Nunez (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) each scored and senior forward Renae McEvoy (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) assisted on the eventual game-winner while freshman defender Victoria Benet (Lyndhurst, NJ/Bergen County Tech) added a helper.
 
McEvoy collected seven shots (three SOG) while Lazar added six attempts (four SOG). In all, 14 R-N players had a shot and nine had multiple chances. R-N also hit the post twice in the first half.
 
Freshman keeper Diana Aviles (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) stopped the only shot on goal—a 40^th minute six-yard attempt by freshman midfielder YAQUELIN IGLESIAS (White Plains, NY/White Plains)—to notch the fifth shutout this year for the Raiders.
 
R-N had a 19-2 edge in first half shots and got on the board in the 16^th minute when Lazar scored her fifth goal of the season. A midfielder made a long pass from 40 yards onto the right side of the box for a 2-on-1 breakaway. McEvoy beat a charging Hoffman to the ball, slipping a pass onto the left middle of the box for an easy tap-in shot at 15:21.
 
Estremera made it 2-0 at 24:37 when the defense failed to clear a slow-rolling ball that slipped through a collection of players from both teams at the top of the box before the Raiders knocked in a wide-open shot from 10 yards.
 
R-N added goals in the 58^th, 64^th and 76^th minutes. At 57:05, Benet made a long pass to Estremera to set up another breakaway on the right side of the box, who finished a high shot over a leaping Hoffman from close range. At 63:42, Estremera gathered a loose deflection on the right wing and chipped home a shot for a 4-0 advantage. At 75:54, Estremera  had the ball near the left post, played it back to Nunez, who rifled home a shot from 15 yards that grazed the fingertips of a lunging Hoffman with the ball just clearing the inside left post.
 
In the 83^rd minute with NJCU playing a woman down after an injury, Hoffman made a great save on the left top corner of the box but was called for a foul in the box while trying to gather the rebound. R-N freshman midfielder Raquel DaCosta (Hillside, NJ/David Brearley) was awarded a penalty kick, but Hoffman made a two-handed save diving towards the far left post to prevent the score from getting any higher.
 
NJCU next has the difficult task of facing the only team in the nation that still owns a perfect record when the Knights face #3/8 ranked Montclair State University in an NJAC game on Saturday, October 19 at 6 p.m. in Montclair, NJ.