Women’s Soccer Tops Willy P.

Photo by Justin Roth

On Saturday, the Roadrunners women’s soccer team earned their first New Jersey Athletic Conference win of the season against the William Paterson Pioneers at home.

After 85 minutes of scoreless play, junior Nicole Ninomiya scored her sixth goal of the season to put the Roadrunners up 1-0 with less than five minutes remaining in regulation.

After the goal, the Roadrunner’s defense held strong and did not allow a shot on goal against in the last five minutes. In total, the Roadrunners attempted 18 shots in the game, landing six on target. The Pioneers attempted 10 shots, and forced freshman goalkeeper Jessica Cusick to make five saves on five shots on goal.

Cusick was perfect in her first collegiate start, and earned the shutout with five saves.

With the win, the Roadrunners improve their record to 2-4-2 overall and to 1-1 in the NJAC. William Paterson is also 1-1 in the NJAC after the loss to Ramapo.

The Roadrunners will want to carry momentum from this win into a long stretch of upcoming NJAC Conference games. Ramapo will visit Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday before hosting Rowan University on Saturday and The College of Staten Island on Oct. 8.

In total, the Roadrunners have seven straight NJAC games between Wednesday and Oct. 22. Earning some wins in this stretch will be vital if the team hopes to make the NJAC post-season tournament for the second consecutive season. Last year was the first time the women’s soccer team qualified for the tournament in team history. 

mmontal1@ramapo.edu