RIVERDALE, N.Y. (November 15, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Newark women's soccer team was defeated in its 2015 finale Sunday, falling at top-seeded New York University by a score of 2-1 in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro/Upstate Championship title game.
 
The Scarlet Raiders – who reached the ECAC final for a second-straight year – end their season with a record of 15-9-1. NYU finishes its year with a 15-5-1 record.
 
After never having won a postseason match until a win in the ECAC Tournament in 2014, the Scarlet Raiders won three this season, including their first-ever conference tournament victory. The program now boasts five postseason wins in total.
 
The Violets would take a  1-0 lead 13:17 into the game when Sharon Lee was able to score after a cross in front rattled around, eventually bouncing to Lee who knocked it in for her third goal of the season. The tally came on NYU's second shot of the game as neither side was able to generate a single attempt in the game's first 10 minutes.
 
R-N took one shot in the first half, but the try from freshman Juliana Ceballos was saved by Cassie Steinberg to keep the Violets on top.
 
Sophomore Nicole Gomez and Ceballos each took attempts for the Raiders somewhat early in the second, with one attempt getting saved and another missing wide.
 
NYU took a 2-0 lead when Lexi Clark put away a feed from Teressa Fazio for her fifth goal of the season with 20:03 remaining.
 
Seniors Sara Corson and Paige Lazar each recorded shots before the Scarlet Raiders cut the lead in half with 1:25 on the clock. Like in the team's upset win over Montclair State University and the team's victory in the semifinals of the ECAC Tournament against Bard College, senior Cristina Estremera scored on a free kick from the top of the box. This time she hammered home a bid from 20-yards out, just off the near corner of the penalty box, putting it in the top-right of the cage. It was her third goal of the postseason and 13th of the season.
 
Unfortunately for the Scarlet Raiders, they were unable to generate another chance, falling by the 2-1 final.
 
NYU ended the match with a slight, 9-6 edge in shots and a 6-2 margin in corner kicks. The Violets put four shots on goal, while R-N put three on target. The Raiders held a 5-3 advantage in attempts in the second half.
 
Each goalkeeper made two saves in the match as Steinberg earned the win for the Violets, while Raider senior Veronika Tueros suffered the loss.
 
Over the last two years, Rutgers-Newark women's soccer has won 29 matches in total, making its first two NJAC Tournaments and two ECAC Metro/Tournaments.