(Central New Jersey) - The Real Central NJ Soccer (RCNJ) women fought hard in a 2-1 home loss against a strong NJ/NY Gotham Reserves squad on Sunday, June 13th. Despite the final result, the team played exceptionally well behind a “Player of the Match” performance by goalkeeper Jamie Skarupsky.
“Going into the game we knew Gotham was a really strong competitor, we are the only two teams at the top of the standings,” said Jamie Skarupsky. “Overall this game was probably my best game of the season.”
“I thought we were a little unlucky to come away with a 2-1 loss considering we had some chances,” said coach Brian Thomsen “We’ve been dealing with some injuries, so we will use this next week to try and get everyone back on the training pitch and finish the season strong.”
Real Central NJ started off on the attack with an opportunity early for Julia Obst, who stole the ball from a defender and just pushed the ball outside of the post. After going a goal down, the team responded well and were able to equalize in the twenty-fifth minute from a beautiful looping shot by Emma Davis that fell into the top left corner. Throughout the rest of the game, Real Central NJ was able to create a few more quality chances but was unable to find the back of the net. A second half Real Central NJ goal was called back after a late whistle for a foul against the Gotham keeper.
On the defensive side, Real Central NJ was able to shut down numerous attacks from Gotham, Jamie Skarupsky had an amazing performance with several spectacular saves, the best coming in the fifty-second minute by a diving effort to prevent the ball from going into the bottom right corner.
Real Central NJ is at home on Wednesday, June 16th at 7 pm, when the men match up against Reading United. The women return home on Sunday, June 20th at 6 pm against the NJ Wizards for their final home game of the season.