JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | DeSales University scored just 19 seconds into the game on a blitz off the kickoff and used its speed to score five goals in the first 18 minutes before defeating the New Jersey City University women's soccer team, 8-1, in the 2017 home opener at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field on September 3.
 
DeSales, members of the MAC Freedom conference, improved to 2-0, outscoring opponents 15-1 to start the season behind senior forward Angelica Bertola (East Stroudsburg, Pa.), who scored her second straight hat trick before leaving the game midway through the first half. She returned late in the second half but didn't score again. The Bulldogs led 6-1 at halftime on a 12-3 shots advantage before adding a pair of goals in the final 14 minutes of the second half. DeSales outshot NJCU, 19-5 overall.
 
Freshman forward Gabby Rojas (Reading, Pa.) and reserve sophomore mid Barbara Pizarro (Olney, Md.) each scored twice—their first two of the season— for the Bulldogs who had the first 11 shots of the game. Freshman forward Aracelli Carranza (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) netted her first career goal in the 40th minute to get NJCU (0-2) on the board.
 
Freshman midfielder Bernadette Haponski (Harbor City, Calif.) had four points on one goal and two assists. Freshman midfielder Rachel Medlar (Coplay, Pa.) had two assists and junior back Caroline Nealon (Malverne, N.Y.) and freshman back Josie Davis-Allen (Springfield, Va.) collected single assists for the Bulldogs.
 
Dominique Jackson (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) made four saves for NJCU under heavy pressure and the Knights had one team save. Freshman Lia Gaccione (Sparta, N.J.) did not have a save for DeSales.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Despite playing on a wet field from heavy rains, Bertola, who had a hat trick in DeSales' 7-0 season-opening win over Lancaster Bible on September 1, used her noticeable speed to post another hat trick in the first 18 minutes of the game.
 
DeSales scored just 19 seconds into the game with a blitz off the kickoff as senior forward Bertola went in on a breakaway on the right side which NJCU's keeper had no shot at after Medlar dumped the ball in.
 
DeSales pressured again, stealing an errant pass from the back and Narvaez slid a ball to Bertola for another rush, blasting a shot inside the near right post just 3:06 into the game.
 
In the 11th minute, Bertola made a great cross inside the six to senior forward Gabby Lucchese (Gilbert, Pa.) before junior back Daniela Betancourt (Secaucus, NJ/Memorial) swooped in to clear the ball off the line with a team save. Jackson made a leaping catch of a cross inside the six to prevent another opportunity in the 12th minute.
 
At 15:16, Rojas claimed her first career goal when she poked in a cross NJCU could not clear for a 3-0 lead. At 17:23, Medlar dished a thru ball up the middle of the field and NJCU could not catch up to the speed of Bertola who sidestepped the diving keeper on the right side of the box to finish the breakaway. DeSales scored four goals on its first six shots of the game.
 
DeSales made it 5-0 at the 19:42 mark on a beautiful header into the upper left corner by Rojas off a corner from the right endline by Haponski as the visitors struck for the fifth time on the ninth shot of the game. It added to its lead in the 39th minute when Pizarro took possession and unleashed a shot from 30 yards into the far upper left corner for a 6-0 lead; Davis-Allen received an assist on the initial pass.
 
Just over a minute later NJCU finally broke through in the 40th minute as Carranza took possession near midfield, dribbled half the length of the field, splitting the defense on a breakaway before finishing a shot to the right.
 
DeSales added a seventh at 76:31 when Nealon, 45 seconds after re-entering the game, slipped a ball into the box for Pizarro who finished into the near left corner. With 2:37 left Haponski's corner from the left side curled in on net and Jackson couldn't catch the wet ball cleanly, as the eighth goal rolled in.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: DeSales leads, 2-0.
• NJCU sophomore center mid Mallensy Vargas (North Bergen, NJ/Memorial), the 2016 New Jersey Athletic Conference co-Rookie of the Year, did not play.

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU will play its third game in four days to open the season when it visits the College of Staten Island for a non-conference game on Tuesday, September 5 (3:30 p.m.). NJCU leads the all-time 'Bayonne Bridge Series', 7-4-2. CSI won the last meeting on September 1, 2015 in Staten Island, N.Y. by a 4-0 result.

 
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