Box Score 

Ewing, NJ…With a team laden with veterans, it was freshman who helped The College of New Jersey to a second straight trip to the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship semifinals on Sunday. The fifth-ranked Lions battled Amherst College to a scoreless tie, but advanced in the tournament thanks to freshman goalie Jessica Clarke (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) as she didn’t allow a goal in penalty kicks as TCNJ won the right to move on 3-0.

The Lions (17-1-3) will now face Messiah College on Friday, November 24 in Orlando, FL at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. This is a rematch of the 2005 NCAA Division III Championship game that saw the Falcons edge the Lions, 1-0. With the tie, TCNJ was prevented from surpassing University of California at San Diego as the all-time leader in wins in the NCAA Tournament as both teams have 37. The Lions have appeared in 16 consecutive tournaments and have an impressive 37-12-3 record and three national championships (1993, 1994 and 2000).

After TCNJ and Amherst firth battled through 90 minutes of regulation and then through a pair of scoreless 10-minute overtimes as the game ended in a tie sending the teams to penalty kicks to determine who would advance. The Lions opted to shoot first in the penalty kicks and junior Courtney Krol (Howell, NJ/Howell), who was a perfect 3-for-3 during the regular season, quickly put the Lions in front 1-0 beating Jeff goalie Piper Crowell (San Rafael, CA/Menlo).

Amherst then turned to Alanna Darling (Charlton, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional), who was denied by Clarke with a diving save to her right.

Erin Cunliffe (Lakewood, NJ/Lakewood) then made it 2-0 TCNJ cashing in on her attempt before Clarke again closed the door on the Jeffs with a nice stop on Kathy Nolan (Palo Alto, CA/Palo Alto).

Next at the line for the Lions was freshman Kristina Shemming (Cranbury, NJ/West Windsor South) and she put the host one save away from a spot in the semis.

Clarke, who finished with two saves during the regulation and the overtimes to earn her 11th shutout of the year, then watched as Amherst’s Meg Murphy (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) drilled her attempt off of the cross bar to seal the win as the Lions stormed the field to mob Clarke.

The teams had limited chances during the 110-minute affair with the Lions getting one of the better chances in the second overtime when an Amherst defender cleared the ball away after a shot by junior Dana DiBruno (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) slipped behind Crowell.