JERSEY CITY, N.J. – After a 1-0 victory against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival William Patterson University on Wednesday, Oct. 12, and a loss in a competitive 2-1 matchup to Stockton University Saturday, Oct. 15, the New Jersey City University women's soccer team opened up the week taking on Kean University at Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field on Tuesday night, Oct. 19. The Gothic Knights dropped the match 4-1 against the Cougars.
NJCU (4-8-3, 1-6 NJAC) opened up the match with a wild first 22 minutes as in the third and 22nd minutes in the first half, both teams exchanged penalty kick misses when trying to put up the first scores of the afternoon. Freshman goalkeeper
Sophia Mannino (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township) registered her first of four saves in the contest, making a diving stop on the penalty to keep the game tied.
The save by Mannino led to Jersey City having momentum on its side as the Gothic Knights took six shot opportunities in attempt of scoring, including the penalty kick in the 22nd, taken by junior forward
Kim Brites (Carteret, N.J./Carteret). Unfortunately, the momentum for NJCU faded a bit after the missed penalty as Kean scored two goals in the half, the first in the 25th and the second in the 38th to make it 2-0.
The Gothic Knights did not end the half quietly though, as in the 41st, Brites scored Jersey City's only goal of the game off a strong pass from near midfield from freshman back
Jessica Digristina (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee). This late goal brought some offensive momentum back to NJCU.
Jersey City opened up the second playing an aggressive offensive approach from the backfield as they took five shot attempts in the first 20 minutes along with creating three corner opportunities. Unfortunately, again in the 78th and moments later still in the 78th, the Cougars put the momentum back in their favor with two insurance goals to stall NJCU's pressure. The Gothic Knights took one more shot in the match and fell to Kean by three tallies.
Up Next:
Jersey City will return home McNulty Field this Saturday, Oct. 22, to take on The College of New Jersey in NJCU's second-to-last conference game of the season. TCNJ is currently ranked #18 in the country. The match will take place at 1:00 p.m.
