JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Oct. 28, 2023) – The New Jersey City University women's soccer team scored the only goal it needed in the 80th minute as it eliminated Rutgers University-Camden from the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs with a 1-0 first-round victory here Saturday afternoon.
 
The fourth-seeded Gothic Knights improve to 8-6-4 and advance to the NJAC semifinals, where they will play at top-seeded Rowan University at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
 
Fifth-seeded Rutgers-Camden closes its season at 8-9-1 despite another stellar defensive effort. The Scarlet Raptors lost their last three games by 1-0 scores. In addition to the playoff defeat, the Raptors' other 1-0 shutouts came against a pair of nationally-ranked teams, 14th-ranked Montclair State and 15th-ranked The College of New Jersey.
 
Although Rutgers-Camden leads its all-time series against NJCU, 18-7, the Gothic Knights won a pair of games over the Scarlet Raptors this season, including a 2-1 victory in Camden on October 4. In that game, one of the goals was assisted by NJCU midfielder/forward Nyrohah Alvarenga, and the Gothic Knight sophomore assisted on the lone playoff goal Saturday. She fed senior midfielder Samantha Szymanski, who scored her third goal of the season at 79:38.
 
NJCU held a 10-3 advantage in shots during the game, including 7-1 in the second half. The Scarlet Raptors had only two shots on goal, one apiece by freshman Sandy Ritter and grad student Jazmin Brown.
 
The Gothic Knights had a 2-1 edge in corner kicks.
 
Rutgers-Camden senior keeper Kayla McKeever collected three saves, while NJCU sophomore goalie Sophia Mannino made two saves to earn the shutout.