RANDOLPH -- To its credit, Phillipsburg's field hockey team kept battling to the final whistle in a disappointing season that ended with a 4-0 loss to Randolph on Wednesday in the opening round of the NJSIAA North 1, Group 4 playoffs at John DaSilva Memorial Field.
The Stateliners wrap up the year at 2-13-2 -- the program's fourth losing campaign in the last seven years and just the 11th in 52 seasons overall. It also was P'burg's lowest wins total since going 0-7-2 in the first season under legendary coach Ruth Gibbs, who started the program in 1962.
"They played hard the whole season," said third-year P'burg coach Jennifer Paulus, whose team trailed 3-0 at halftime and gave up two goals on penalty strokes in the loss. "[Randolph] is a good team with a lot of speed and we gave up two goals on strokes. My defense played well."
Randolph (9-8-1), the No. 6 seed which advances to meet No. 3 Ridge in Monday's quarterfinals, struck first on a penalty stroke by senior forward Lindsey Klein, her team-leading 17th goal. Freshman forward Taralyn Naslonski made it a 2-0 lead when she converted for her 16th goal off a nice crossing pass to left side from junior forward Kelly O'Neill.
The Rams tacked on one more with 28 seconds the half, as O'Neill connected for her ninth goal.
Phillipsburg, the No. 11 seed, managed just one shot-on-goal in the first half, but nearly connected with 10:25 left with a blast off the pads of Randolph goalie Courtney Calantone.
The game was marred by five cards -- two green and three yellow -- with one foul being called on the Stateliners (a green on junior midfielder Viktoria Schultz for not being five yards on defense). The Rams played a man down on four occasions, three times for not being five yards and another for pushing with 1:55 left in the game. In addition, P'burg also lost senior back Sara Solimani with an apparent head injury after a nasty collision with a defender with 7:19 left in the first half. It was a scary scene as Solimani collapsed to the turf and did not return.
Paulus made some adjustments to her lineup to try and contain Naslonski, a speedy center midfielder.
"Vikki Schultz played a really hard game and we moved [sophomore center midfielder] Lacy O'Dowd to right back," Paulus said. "We put [junior back] Emily DiMarco at center mid to showcase her defensive skills. We wanted to get a beefier defense against [Naslonski]."
But the story once again for P'burg, which started six seniors, was its inability to put the ball in the cage. The 'Liners managed just eight goals all season -- scoring just once all season at home in a 6-1 loss to Voorhees in the season opener on Sept. 6 and recording just two goals during an eight-game losing streak to finish the season. Senior left inner Marissa Perino led the team with four goals.
"We were too much passing instead of going to goal," said Paulus, whose teams have dropped back-to-back first-round playoff games since reaching the sectional semifinals in 2011. "Randolph was all over us man-to-man. You've got to have confidence to take shots."
P'burg, which won the last of its four sectional titles in 1999, picked it up in the second half and was awarded eight penalty corners to none for Randolph. The 'Liners finished with a 10-1 edge on corners.
But senior midfielder Marley Bracklemanns capped the scoring by converting Randolph's second penalty stroke -- a rocket into the right corner past junior goalie Rachael Horun, who made eight saves in the loss.
"I think we played better in the second half and we got about nine seniors into the game," Paulus said. "We've struggled so much putting the ball in the cage."
Phillipsburg (2-13-2) 0 0 -- 0
Randolph (9-8-1) 3 1 -- 4
Scoring
First half -- R, Lindsey Klein, 17th, (penalty stroke), 27:38; R, Taralyn Naslonski, 16th, (Kelly O'Neill), 19:14; R, O'Neill, 9th, 0:28.
Second half -- R, Marley Bracklemanns, 2nd, (penalty stroke), 15:43.
Shots -- Phillipsburg 3; Randolph 12.
Saves -- Rachael Horun 8 (P); Courtney Calantone 3 (R).
Penalty corners -- Phillipsburg 10; Randolph 1.
Elsewhere in North 1, Group 4:
North Hunterdon 2, Columbia 1 -- Junior forward Jamie Ruggiero scored a pair of goals -- her third and fourth of the season -- as the 12th-seeded Lions upset the No. 5 seed in the opening round. North Hunterdon (2-14-1) snapped an eight-game losing streak with its first win since Sept. 10 (1-0 over Watchung Hills) and its first state playoff win since 2009 (3-2 in OT over Ridge in the North 1, Group 4 quarterfinals).
Junior Grace Plassche and senior Jenn Coronato had assists in Wednesday's win, as North advances to meet No. 4 seed Morris Knolls in Monday's quarterfinals. First-year Lions coach Suzanne Toke inherited a program that finished 0-17-1 in 2012. North had scored just eight goals all season and only two in their previous 10 games.
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