NEWARK, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In the final match of the 2018 season for the New Jersey City University women's soccer team (5-10-0, 0-8-0 NJAC), a late penalty kick in regulation and then a golden goal in the fourth minute of overtime for Rutgers-Newark (7-8-3, 3-5-1 NJAC), prevented the Gothic Knights from picking up what would have been their first New Jersey Athletic Conference win of the year. The 3-2 overtime match was played on October 24 at Frederick Douglass Field.
 
The Knights led for 54 minutes of the match, thanks to an opening goal from junior forward Rosa Bonilla (Roselle Park, NJ/Roselle Park) and a second half strike from junior midfielder Mallensy Vargas (North Bergen, NJ/Memorial), but each time the Scarlet Raiders were able to come back and tie the match, before senior midfielder Juliana Ceballos (Elizabeth, N.J.) won the game for Rutgers-Newark in the 94th minute with her second goal of the game. She had a hand in all three Newark goals.
 
The Raiders started the game with the majority of the possession, outshooting NJCU 10-3 in the opening half and 23-6 for the game. Junior defender Deirdre Mackin (Dumont, N.J.) hit the post on the nine minute mark, as Rutgers-Newark got the first five shots of the game.
 
However, it was the Knights' top attacking duo that struck in the 24th minute to give NJCU the 1-0 lead. After Vargas put a shot on goal that needed to be parried away, Bonilla was right there to pounce, finding the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season and giving Vargas her sixth assist this year.
 
The Knights were able to maintain that one-goal margin through the end of the half, despite being outshot 10-3. That was due in large part to the NJCU defense forcing Newark into difficult shots, as not one of those 10 required a save from NJCU freshman goalkeeper Cidney Lee-Sam (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge).
 
In the second half, the Raiders continued to send shots towards goal, but not on goal—until the 71st minute. Ceballos sent in a free kick from the left wing and junior defender Ine Collins (Lumberton, N.J.) put the one-time effort in the back of the net for her first tally of the season.
 
The response from NJCU was immediate, and to no one's surprise, it was Vargas who took matters into her own hands and sent a free kick rocket past junior goalkeeper Heidi Paulson (West Orange, N.J.) to put the Knights back ahead in the 76th minute. The goal was her 13th of the season—third most in the conference.
 
The action would hardly stop there, though, as just minutes later, the Knights were assessed a foul in the box, leading to a Newark penalty, which Ceballos slotted past NJCU freshman Sheyla Salazar (Guttenberg, NJ/North Bergen) who had come on momentarily to spell an injured Lee-Sam.
 
Tied at 2-2 in the 83rd minute, the match looked destined for overtime, and it did indeed require extra time to decide a winner in the season finale for both teams.
 
It didn't take long into overtime to find a winner, however, as Ceballos slipped through the defense for a high shot from 20-yards out that slipped through Lee-Sam's hands 3:09 into the first overtime.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: Rutgers-Newark leads the series, 16-3.
• NJCU is 12-16-15 all-time in 42 overtime games.
• This was the third straight year in which a single goal separated these two sides, with Newark winning the last two years. Both the 2016 and 2018 meetings required overtime to settle.
• Mallensy Vargas (North Bergen, NJ/Memorial) ended the season as the team leader in goals (13), assists (six), points (32), game-winning goals (two), shots (62), and shots on goal (34).
• Nina Carbonaro (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) played the most minutes of any Gothic Knight, spending 1,294 minutes on the pitch in 2018.
• Cidney Lee-Sam (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) led the team with four wins and 72 saves in her freshman campaign.
• NJCU was playing its second overtime game of the season and both had 3-2 scores (September 17 vs. Lehman).

 
UP NEXT:

• The 2019 NJCU women's soccer schedule will be announced in Spring, 2019.

 
GOTHIC KNIGHTS on SOCIAL MEDIA:
For the latest on NJCU women's soccer and #NJCUWSoccer, follow the Gothic Knights on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and SnapChat. Preferred hashtags are GothicGameDay and GothicFamily.