By JOHN CORYER
AMHERST, Mass. — It didn't take very long for the Plattsburgh State women's soccer team to find out what it was up against Saturday afternoon.
Jillian Casey scored 4:12 into the game and The College of New Jersey went on to record a 2-0 win over the Cardinals in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Amherst College.
Host Amherst posted a 3-0 victory over Eastern Connecticut State in the first game Saturday.
"They were good," said Plattsburgh State head coach Karen Waterbury. "They stayed well balanced and didn't make any mistakes. Defensively, we had trouble sorting out their numbers, especially in the first half.
"You could tell they've been here before. Their experience showed."
The Lions (17-2-1) took the lead early on when Casey got a loose ball at the corner of the penalty area and sent a slicing diagonal shot into the far netting of the goal.
"It was an early wake-up call for us in a NCAA Tournament game," said Plattsburgh State defender Kaitlin Collica.
The College of New Jersey, who held a 12-0 advantage in shots in the opening half, then made it 2-0 at 32:41.
Allyson Anderson took the ball down the end line and fed a perfect pass in front to Brittany McGinley, who one-timed it into the upper half of the net from 10 yards out.
"We were doing a lot of slipping and sliding on the wet field and I don't know how much that contributed to us being tentative," Waterbury said. "We didn't play as strong as we are capable of.
"But, I don't want to take anything away from them because they deserve a lot of credit for how well they played."
The Lions also came out strong to start the second half and had a couple of great opportunities early on.
One time, The College of New Jersey got a shot off in front following a corner kick and Plattsburgh State defender Danielle Wiemer was there to keep it out of the net.
Then, shortly after, the Lions had a free kick from outside the area deflect off the crossbar.
The Cardinals (10-6-3), who were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995, then began to pick up their play, with Kristie Pageau getting a couple of shots and Emily Riley, one.
"They were a good team and we didn't know much about them," Collica said. "We got down, 2-0, but we still gave it our all. It went back-and-forth in the second half."
"We played a better second half, for sure," Waterbury said. "But, I would have liked to have seen us take on their players a little more. Their keeper (Jessica Clark) was strong, but we didn't test her. There were times when we should have looked to shoot the ball instead of passing it.
"We did, however, play with more confidence in the second half."
The College of New Jersey finished with a 25-3 edge in shots and missed the net on many of them. Clark finished with two saves for the shutout and Alina Greiser stopped six shots in net for the Cardinals.
Both teams took three corner kicks, with all three for the Cardinals coming in the final minute of the first half.
"We had 10 days off between games, but it was still good to get back on the field," said Collica, just one of two seniors on the Plattsburgh State roster. "It was good to get here."
"I was hoping that we would be looser for the game and more relaxed," Waterbury said. "The first goal we allowed was too easy for them.
"But, I give our girls credit and this was a good experience for us. This is something I hope we can build on."
—
TCNJ 2, Plattsburgh 0
Plattsburgh 0 0 — 0
College of New Jersey ` 2 0 — 2
First half- 1, TCNJ, Casey, 4:12. 2, TCNJ, McGinley (Anderson), 32:41.
Shots: TCNJ 25, Plattsburgh State 3.
Saves: Clark, TCNJ, 2. Greiser, PSU, 6.
