October 8, 2011

ALBUJA/CASERES COMBINATION EXCEEDS 400 CAREER POINTS, NOW 6TH IN DIVISION III HISTORY, AFTER 7-0 SHUTOUT OF YORK; CASERES NOW 20TH IN DIVISION III HISTORY IN SCORING

Saturday, October 8, 2011 (Women's Soccer)

 

ALBUJA/CASERES COMBINATION EXCEEDS 400 CAREER POINTS, NOW 6^TH IN DIVISION III HISTORY, AFTER 7-0 SHUTOUT OF YORK

 

CASERES NOW 20^TH IN DIVISION III HISTORY IN SCORING

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior strikers JENNIFER ALBUJA (Union City, NJ/Hoboken) and JULIA CASERES (Union, NJ/Union) each notched their second hat trick of the season and 12^th of their careers at New Jersey City University while becoming only the eighth 400-point scoring combination in known Division III history as the Gothic Knights rolled past York College, 7-0, in a non-conference women's soccer game on Saturday at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.

The tandem entered the game with 397 career points and combined for 13 overall, and with 410 career points, moved into a tie for sixth place in Division III history for the most points by two teammates all time. The record is 432 points. Their 177 career combined goals is the most in Division III history by two teammates.

Meanwhile Caseres moved into a tie for 20^th place in Division III history in career points with 226 (93 goals, 40 assists) and is tied for 23^rd in Division III history in total goals.

With the win, NJCU improved to 11-3 overall and 6-1 at home, while dropping York (1-8) to its fifth loss in a row. It was the first-ever meeting between the schools in women's soccer.

On a day where NJCU played a more pass-oriented style, the Knights outshot the Cardinals, 31-1, including 16-0 in the second half. It was the sixth shutout for the Knights this season—one shy of the single-season mark of seven set in 2007. NJCU did not score in the final 38 minutes of the game.

Albuja was the high-point person for the Knights, notching three goals and one assist for seven points, bringing her career scoring totals to 184 points on 84 goals and 16 assists in 73 career games. She equaled the program career record for games played and games started (73) while tallying her 16^th career game-winning goal—one shy of Caseres' record of 17.

Albuja, who scored the first, fourth and seventh goals of the game, registered her 16^th, 17^th and 18^th of the season to move into a tie for second place in New Jersey Athletic Conference history for most career points among men's or women's players. She tallied her sixth multiple-goal game of the year.

 

Caseres scored the second, third and fifth goals for her 13^th, 14^th and 15^th markers of the season while recording her sixth multi-goal game of the year.

 

Junior midfielder AMANDA SPETHMANN (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights—Wood-Ridge) notched her first goal of the season.

Rookie midfielder AMANDA FILIPPONE (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley), freshman defender DEVON WILLIAMS (Neptune City, NJ/Neptune) and junior midfielder ANGELICA GLOVER (Union, NJ/Union Catholic) each contributed two assists in the win.

Rookie goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) notched the shutout without needing to make a save. Williams, rookie sweeper JANINE CASALE (Kenilworth, NJ/David Brearley), and senior defenders MARGIE ALFANO (Randolph, NJ/West Orange)  and ERICA BUONACQUISTA (Aberdeen, NJ/Bayonne) started in the backfield and helped prevent the Cardinals from posting any shots on goal. Sophomore KARLA REYES-ABRIL (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) and Albuja also saw time on defense.

Williams, who achieved her first two career points in the game, narrowly missed her first collegiate goal, hitting the left post three times in the second half. She had a game-high 11 shots, including four on goal. Albuja had six shots (three on goal) and Caseres added five shots (three on goal). York freshman Vanessa Rivera (Queens, NY) made eight saves for the Cardinals.

NJCU scored twice in the first eight minutes for a quick 2-0 lead. Just 2:16 into the game, Filippone chipped a ball from the left wing into the box where Albuja made one dribble to beat Rivera before tapping a close shot home for a 1-0 lead.

At 7:37, Williams made a cross into the box from the right wing and found Caseres who tucked a shot into the wide open left side of the target. It was Williams' first career assist.

Caseres made it 3-0 at the 21:40 mark as Glover made a gorgeous cross from the right endline, over a leaping keeper, and onto the left post. While the ball appeared headed into the net, Caseres tucked the ball over the endline with a one-touch.

NJCU gained a 4-0 lead at 28:28. Williams earned her second assist by sending a thru ball on the right side that allowed Albuja to split two defenders before unleashing a shot into the left of the net. NJCU led 4-0 at the half.

In the second half, NJCU scored three goals in a span of 4:05 between the 48^th and 53^rd minutes. Just 2:59 into the second half, Albuja aired out a perfect cross from the right endline and Caseres headed home the feed in the middle of the box.

At 50:59, Filippone contributed her third assist of the year, dribbling onto the near left wing before lofting a cross to Spethmann on the right side, before she buried a top-shelf one-timer.

NJCU concluded the scoring at 52:04 with another pretty goal. Glover, who tallied her third assist of the season, made a cross from the left endline to Albuja in the box. Albuja bent her knees and directed a header off the underside of the crossbar and into the target.

NJCU, now 2-1 in the NJAC, plays an important conference game on Wednesday, October 12 at 3:30 p.m. when it hosts Rutgers-Newark at the Robert L. McNulty Memorial Soccer Field.

—www.njcugothicknights.com—

GAME NOTES:

Jennifer Albuja, second in the history of NJAC women's soccer (to Caseres) in goals and points, is now second among men or women in NJAC history in total scoring. She equaled Fred Guiran of Kean University who tallied 184 points and 74 goals (36 assists) from 1990-92.  NJCU is 16-2-1 in its last 19 home games since 2009 and 23-4-1 in Jersey City over the last three seasons. Caseres is now tied with Sara Morgan of Centre College (KY) (1994-98, 78 games) and Lynne Stever (1983-84, 1986-87, 75 games) of Nazareth College for 20th in Division III history with 226 points. She passed Christy Capkovic (2007-10, 80 games, 223 points) of Webster University on the all-time points list. Caseres is now tied with Kate Brunelle of Western New England College (1995-98, 79 games) for 23rd place in Division III history with 93 goals. Next in the list are Emilie Replogle of Delaware Valley College (1995-98, 68 games) and Nellie Springer of Allegheny College (1985-88, 75 games) with 94 career goals in 21st place. With 410 points, Albuja and Caseres are tied for sixth place all-time with Sandi Poniatowski and Megan Faurot of Kalamazoo College, who had 410 points from 1996-99. They passed Faurot and Erin Killian of Kalamazoo's combined total of 404 points. Next on the list is 412 combined points by Tracy Prihoda (2000-03) and Erin Brennan (2001-04) of Wheaton College (MA).