BRONXVILLE, N.Y. — Due to lightning in the area, the New Jersey City University women's soccer team got a late start to its Monday night, Sept. 18, road match against Sarah Lawrence College. That did not prevent the Gothic Knights from striking first against the Gryphons, however, in what ended up being a strong night for both goalkeepers. NJCU's tally, which came off a corner in the 85th minute, ultimately put the road team up 1-0, but Sarah Lawrence evened it up in the 86th for the eventual non-conference draw.
The Gothic Knights (2-3-1) outshot the Gryphons (3-3) overall, 20-9, including a 10-7 shots on goal advantage. NJCU's sophomore keeper
Sophia Mannino (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township) made six stops on the night, including one in the 88th minute to maintain the draw. The Green and Gold were turned aside three times in the first half, but then put the pressure on with shots on goal in the second half. After a couple on-target attempts in the first eight-plus minutes, NJCU had back-to-back chances in the 69th, but the Sarah Lawrence keeper kept it scoreless at the time.
Finally, in the 85th minute of the night, sophomore
Nyrohah Alvarenga (North Bergen, N.J./High Tech) lined up for a corner kick on the near side right in front of her team's bench. Her pass was sent to the front of the net and her classmate
Becky Lopez (Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View) put a touch on it to direct the ball into the lower-right corner of the back of the net to make it 1-0 at the time – sending the Gothic Knights into a frenzy.
Unfortunately, Sarah Lawrence had a breakout of its own and a few nice passes in front of the NJCU net ended up in a goal for the home team to tie the match at 1-1 less than a minute later in the 86th.
Highlights:
- Alvarenga and Lopez dominated the ball all night, each taking six shots apiece. Lopez landed four on goal, while Alvarenga had three on-target attempts.
- The Gryphons came across as the more aggressive squad and were called offsides 11 times compared to NJCU, which did not have a single one.
- The Gothic Knights still lead the all-time series, 1-0-1, having faced SLC for just the second time tonight.
Up Next:
New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play finally gets underway for NJCU as the Gothic Knights travel to #18-ranked Montclair State University on Friday afternoon, Sept. 22, for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff in Montclair, N.J.
