JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior midfielder Alicia Umanzor (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) scored her first goal of the season in the 78th minute of a 1-1 game to give the New Jersey City University women's soccer team a 2-1 season-ending victory over Brooklyn College, first place and unbeaten in the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC), on October 29 at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.
 
The Gothic Knights finish the 2016 campaign—the 24th season of intercollegiate women's soccer at NJCU—with a 7-8-1 ledger. NJCU outshot Brooklyn (7-8-2) by an 11-3 margin in the second half and 14-8 for the game in a non-conference contest that was scoreless at halftime.  
 
Freshman center midfielder Mallensy Vargas (North Bergen, N.J./Memorial) also scored for NJCU moments into the second half with her 13th tally of the season while senior back Jubeth Buitrago (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) assisted on the game-winner in her final game in an NJCU uniform.
 
Freshman Joelle Paris (Bayonne, N.J./County Prep) made her third start in goal to conclude the season and made four saves. Senior Samantha Rodriguez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also had four stops for BC.
 
Brooklyn had a 5-3 edge in shots in a scoreless opening 45 minutes but only three shots in the second half. One was a game-tying goal in the 49th minute by junior back Ashley Calandra (Eastern Shore, Md.).
 
Sophomore forward Katherin Merino (Harrison, N.J./Harrison) had four shots to lead NJCU while Vargas has three others. Freshman forward Victoria Ramirez (Valley Stream, N.Y.) had four shots (two on goal) for the Bulldogs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first shot of the game did not come until the 13th minute. NJCU's first good opportunity came in the 38th minute as Merino played a long thru ball to Vargas who missed just left from 20 yards. A minute later, Buitrago disrupted a breakaway 1v1 inside the NJCU 18.
 

NJCU's first good opportunity came in the 38th minute as Merino played a long thru ball to Vargas who missed just left from 20 yards. A minute later, Buitrago disrupted a breakaway 1v1 inside the NJCU 18. In the 40th minute Ramirez for Brooklyn shot too earlier
 
With under 25 seconds left in the half, NJCU had its best scoring chance of the period when, after a long thru ball up the middle, freshman Ashley Castaneda (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) curled a laser toward the upper right corner of the goal before Rodriguez reached up and snagged the ball with two hands at the last second.
 
Just 43 seconds into the second half, Vargas settled a punt near midfield and proceeded to weave her way through four Brooklyn defenders, hopping past the last one, before beating Rodriguez with a shot to the far right outside post for her 13th goal of the season.
 
Brooklyn countered three minutes later. With 41:23 remaining in the second half, Calandra booted a ball from the near right sideline that curled over the backpedaling Paris and into the upper left side of the goal, tying the game at 1-1 with her first goal of the season.
 
In the 52nd minute, Vargas slipped a pass to Merino for a breakaway before Rodriguez made the near post stop. In the 61st minute, Merino curled a shot off the middle of the crossbar and Vargas put away the rebound but the goal was negated by an offsides flag.
 
In the 71st minute, freshman forward Sylwia Lubczenko (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) nearly scored on a breakaway pass from Umanzor before Rodriguez made a fine diving save, reaching back towards the near post.
 
With 12:48 left, NJCU finally got the deciding strike. Buitrago dumped a long ball into the center of the box, which went untouched by the Bulldogs. Umanzor sidestepped the last defender and put away her first goal of the season into the right half of the target on a play where the keeper had no chance. It was her third career tally and her first game-winner.
 
In the 80th minute Ramirez had a chance on the far endline but Paris reached up to make the save. In the 84th minute, freshman midfielder Karen Tuesta (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) had a shot at the far post set aside by Rodriguez after a feed by Vargas. Seconds later, Paris had to make a save on senior mid Sayla Flores (Brooklyn, N.Y.) but NJCU dominated possession the remainder of the game and had the final three shots.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: Second meeting. Series even, 1-1.