UNION, N.J. — Freshman goalkeeper Marissa Lotierzo (Maple Shade, N.J./Maple Shade) made her second straight start in net for New Jersey City University women's soccer and the rookie netminder had a strong performance, posting a six-save shutout in the 0-0 tie with Kean University on Saturday afternoon, April 3, in what was a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament First Round matchup. Unfortunately, despite not taking an official loss, the Gothic Knights will not move on to the quarterfinals as the Cougars advanced following a 4-3 advantage in penalty kicks after 110 minutes of play was not enough to decide a victor.

Half #1
NJCU (0-4-1, 0-4 NJAC) managed three shots on goal throughout the day against Kean (0-3-2, 0-3-1 NJAC), but was unable to put one past the Cougar keeper. Lotierzo was busy early on, making four or her six saves in the game's first 17 minutes and five saves in the first half entirely. In the 31st minute, freshman Kim Brites (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) attempted the Gothic Knights' first shot on goal of the afternoon, but was turned away. Then, in the 44th minute, Kean had a shot at the NJCU net with Lotierzo out of the way, but the Gothic Knights came up with the team save to keep it scoreless.

The Next 65:00
Each team managed a shot on goal in the second half as well, but both keepers stood strong and to overtime the game went. The Gothic Knights had a pair of corners and an off-target shot attempt in the first overtime, but to no avail, which resulted in a second overtime. NJCU was once again the busier team, taking a corner and registering a pair of shots, including one on net by senior Crystal Tepale (Passaic. N.J./Passaic County Tech) in the 109th minute. That one was saved as well and as the clock expired, the game went into the books as a draw.

PKs
Still, the NJAC required a team to advance to the quarterfinal, so penalty kicks would decide this one. Kean shot first, and converted on its first attempt to take an early 1-0 advantage. Brites was NJCU's first shooter, but she was unable to connect. The Cougars then missed their second attempt and continued to lead 1-0 before junior Tiana Ulloa (New Brunswick, N.J./East Brunswick) successfully converted to make it 1-1 after two rounds. Kean made both its attempts in the third and fourth rounds, while the Gothic Knights' sophomore back Arame Diouf (Weehawken, N.J./Memorial) missed her attempt in the third — the home team now led 3-1 in PKs, needing just one more to seal it.

However, junior Victoria Gil (South River, N.J./South River) and freshman Krysti Alejandro (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) — sandwiching a save by Lotierzo — were able to bring it back to even at 3-3 after five rounds of penalty kicks. Kean converted for its fourth successful PK, which meant that NJCU needed to put its next attempt away to extend its season. Unfortunately, Tepale's attempt was off-target, ending the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign for the Gothic Knights.