CAMDEN, N.J. (Sept. 29, 2018) – The first order of business when containing the New Jersey City University women's soccer team is to shut down one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, junior midfielder Mallensy Vargas.
 
Rutgers-Camden did that to perfection all day, with a stellar team effort led by its own star midfielder, junior Sarah Zuzulock, and the Scarlet Raptors went on to race past the Gothic Knights, 4-0, in a Homecoming Day NJAC game Saturday.
 
Rutgers-Camden evens its record at 5-5-1 overall and hikes its NJAC mark to 2-1-1. The last time the Scarlet Raptors were at, or above, .500 after 11 games was 2008, when they were 6-5. The last time the team had a winning record in the conference through four NJAC games was 2004, when they also were 2-1-1.
 
NJCU falls to 4-6 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
 
Rutgers-Camden limited the Gothic Knights to only two shots all day, and all but shut down Vargas, who entered the game second in the NJAC in points (22) and tied for second in goals (9). She managed just one harmless long-range shot in the first half, which was easily handled by Raptor sophomore keeper Natalie Eberhardt at the left post. The only other NJCU shot came in the second half, when Eberhardt saved an attempt by Daniela Betancourt.
 
Rutgers-Camden held a 21-2 advantage in shots and a 4-2 margin in corner kicks as it ended a two-game losing streak against the Gothic Knights and hiked its lead in the all-time series to 14-5. The last time the Raptors had defeated NJCU was on Oct. 20, 2015, by a 5-0 score in Jersey City. In that game, freshman midfielder Melissa Peel picked up her first career assist. On Saturday, Peel notched her first goal of the season, which proved to be the first game-winning tally of her career. It hiked her career total to four goals and, coupled with her 12 career assists, gave her 20 career points.
 
Peel's score came at 19:16 after NJCU keeper Cidney Lee-Sam made the save on a shot by Raptor freshman Ava Pizzaro, but couldn't control the rebound. Peel tapped in the goal near the left post for the only first-half tally.
 
Rutgers-Camden out-shot NJCU, 16-1, in the second half and didn't take long to add an insurance goal. Pizzaro notched her fourth tally of the year, converting a pass from junior midfielder Taylor Hueston. She scored at 47:53 with a shot to the back right corner.
 
Hueston added another assist at 58:51, slipping a pass into the box for sophomore forward Meghan Wachira, who beat Lee-Sam charging out for the ball. Wachira tapped in her team-leading sixth goal into the empty net.
 
The two assists were the first two at Rutgers-Camden for Hueston, a transfer from NJAC rival Kean University. She also has scored two goals this season for the Raptors.
 
The Raptors' final goal came with only 26 seconds remaining when a pair of juniors, playing in their first season with the Scarlet Raptors, combined for their first Rutgers-Camden points. Taylor O'Rourke, pictured above, sent a long restart into the box from the left side, where Kenzee Hudson deflected the ball into the net past backup goalie Sheyla Salazar.
 
Eberhardt earned the shutout with her two saves. Lee-Sam had seven saves and allowed three goals, while Salazar made two saves and surrendered one goal for NJCU in her 11:01 minutes of playing time.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Wednesday with a non-conference 4 p.m. game at DeSales University.