SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The College of New Jersey women's soccer team opened up the 2019 season with a 1-0 victory against Swarthmore College on Friday evening. The Lions entered the season ranked third in the D3soccer.com national rankings and eighth in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Swarthmore landed at the 14 spot in each poll.

The Lions struck first early. Nikki Butler found the back of the net just seven minutes into the match. Butler has been effective on the offensive end in her career, as she led the team in scoring last season with seven goals.

A minute and a half after Butler's goal, Swarthmore had a scoring opportunity. Sophia Stills sent in a header that was denied by TCNJ keeper Nicole DiPasquale. DiPasquale came up big again just about seven minutes later. Swarthmore had a one-on-one, yet the senior keeper came up with the save to preserve the Lion lead.

The remainder of the first half, Swarthmore was unable to beat the TCNJ defense and the Lions took a 1-0 lead into intermission. TCNJ held a 9-5 advantage in shots in the first period.

The tightly contested match continued to be a close one in the second half. With 12 minutes to play Nina Carlson got off a shot on net, yet the Swarthmore keeper came up with the save. A couple of minutes later, Amelia Curtis sent in a corner kick that found Butler, yet Butler's header sailed wide and the lead stayed put at 1-0.

With just over four minutes to play Swarthmore had an opportunity to tie it up, yet DiPasquale came up clutch again. The Garnet got off a clean look from ten yards out, but DiPasquale dove to her right and got a piece of it to keep the shutout intact. The Lions did not let Swarthmore get another look to hold onto the win.

DiPasquale made five saves on the evening to earn the win. The shutout was the 26^th individual one of her career, which ties Vikki Hultquist for sixth all-time in TCNJ program history.

The Lions held a 19-8 advantage in shots, and a 6-4 edge in corner kicks on the night.

TCNJ will return to the pitch tomorrow evening, when it will square off against Eastern Connecticut State University at 6:30 p.m.