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EWING – The College of New Jersey women’s soccer team wasted no time in setting up its offensive attack in the first half.
As the Lions faced New Jersey City University yesterday, they quickly seized control of the field. Just four minutes into the first half, the Lions showed that they had come to play as midfielder Kayla Bertolino, shot and scored.
Throughout 90 minutes of soccer, the Lions showed their dominance against an overmatched NJCU team, winning 8-0. With the win, TCNJ boosted its record to 7-0 and 2-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
“We’ve been defending well as a team, with the front-runners defending and the midfielders, so it’s been a group effort,” said Joe Russo, head coach for TCNJ.
The Lions played a strong offensive game taking 22 shots on goal against NJCU goalie Dominique Jackson.
Shot after shot was sent towards the opposing goalie throughout the entire game. Yet the Lions did not face one shot on goal by the opposing Gothic Knights.
As TCNJ kept the ball forward away from its goal, the players set themselves up for a high-scoring offensive game.
A second goal came shortly after the first, by midfielder Taylor Nolan 11 minutes into play. Before the end of the first half the Lions went on to score three more goals. Not giving NJCU a moment to breath, forward Christine Levering scored a goal and just 20 seconds after yet another goal was made by midfielder Elizabeth Thoresen.
Closing out the first half was midfielder Despina Lianidis making the fifth goal in the game and her first this 
season.
Coming into the second half with a 5-0 lead the Lions saw a short lull in goals made for the first 30 minutes of the half. But pushing through to finish strong, TCNJ went on to score three more goals.
Getting her first season goal for the Lions, forward Gianna Zarra scored off of an assist from teammate Stephanie Figueroa. Similarly freshman player and forward, Julia Obst made the final two goals of the game. These being her second and third goals made during her first season.
“In scoring we kind of spread out and it is a variety of different kids scoring all the time,” said Russo.
It is apparent that most of the team sees opportunities to score, with seven of the Lions players scoring goals during this game.
Sweeping away its fellow NJAC opponent with a weighty 8-0 victory, TCNJ remains undefeated thus far into the season. The Lions are still holding on to their shutout streak, as NJCU didn’t even find the chance to pass the defense to take a shot on goal.
With a clean win for TCNJ, paired with an impressive undefeated record, the team moving forward is still aiming to improve.
“We just want to get better. We tell our kids everyday if we can try and get better everyday and get closer as a team everyday, were going to be better off,” said Russo.
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