Photo by Giancarlo Sepulveda
In the first ever meeting between the Ramapo Roadrunners and the Cyclones of Centenary College, the Roadrunners took home the victory by defeating Centenary by the final score of 3-1.
The Roadrunners were looking to continue their hot start to the 2015 season as they hosted Centenary College for the first time ever. Centenary College came into the game reeling with three previous losses.
With the win, the Roadrunners start the season 4-0 for the first time since 2000.
The Roadrunners have scored a total of 16 goals through their first four games.
Senior captain Nicole Ninomiya believes that, despite the fact that this was the first time the Roadrunners have ever faced Centenary, it was best not to change the way the Roadrunners have been playing so far this season.
“We had never played Centenary before, so we didn’t know much about what kind of team they were or how they played,” said Ninomiya. “So, we just wanted to go into this game playing the way we had been playing our previous three games, since we won those three.”
After a scoreless first half, the Roadrunners struck fairly quickly in the second half, as sophomore forward Nani Vizcaino scored her fifth goal of the year. Fellow sophomore forward Gabriella DiLiberto, who was a member of the NJAC Women’s Soccer Honorable Mention All-Conference team last year, dished out the assist, her team-leading third assist of the year.
Freshman defender Skyler Rybacki also scored two goals in nine minutes. The first goal was scored in the 59th minute, assisted by Stephanie Bonilla, while the second goal of the game, scored in the 68th minute, was assisted by Michaela Knoblock.
This was the fourth straight game that the Roadrunners have allowed one goal or less, the longest such streak to start a season since 2006.
The Roadrunners are outscoring their opponents 16-2 this season.
Ninomiya sensed that the players are feeling a lot more comfortable playing with one another this year than last year.
“Last year we were a young team with almost half of our starters as freshmen, so our team as a whole was not used to playing with each other last year,” said Ninomiya. “It was more of a building year, last year, and now that all of our starters have played a whole season together, we are much more comfortable on the field as a whole.”
Yesterday, the Roadrunners defeated Drew University by the score of 3-2. It was the first meeting between the two teams since Drew defeated the Roadrunners 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 8, 2013.
The Roadrunners return to action on Saturday when they open up their conference season and take on fellow NJAC rival Stockton University.
pmcguire@ramapo.edu
