DEXTER — There’s an old adage in sports — You can’t score if you don’t take the shot.

The Jefferson Community College women’s soccer team learned that the hard way on Saturday afternoon.

Despite an admirable effort from goalie Amber Dibble, the sixth-seeded Cannoneers put just six shots on goal en route to losing to No. 11 Erie Community College, 2-1, in the first round of the NJCAA Region 3 Division 3 playoffs at General Brown High School.

“You’ve got to create chances, and we just didn’t create any chances that were threatening,” said JCC coach David Bowhall, whose team finished the season with a 9-7-1 record. “That’s usually our game. We usually create a lot of chances.”

Sophomore defender Chelsea Olson scored the deciding goal on a breakaway in the 62nd minute for Erie CC (8-8).

She took a pass from Breanna Pangel, and with nothing in front of her but Dibble and the goal, Olson placed the ball in the right corner to evade a diving Dibble and break a 1-1 tie.

“I did get a little nervous, I will admit,” Olson said. “But you just got to stay calm and look to the open areas, and just don’t look at the goalie, pick the corners.”

Dibble saved four breakaways prior to Olson’s game-winner, including three in the first half to preserve a 1-0 JCC lead.

Dibble, playing at less than 100 percent due to a recurring knee injury dating back to high school, finished with 13 saves in all.

“She’s played great for us all year long, not just today,” Bowhall said of his second-year stopper. “She plays through the pain, great keeper. She’s going to make a good keeper for somebody at the next level.”

Morgan Kiernan scored off a Paige Hart pass in the 25th minute to give JCC the early 1-0 advantage.

Hart gained possession of the ball around midfield and made a high-arching pass to Kiernan, who then beat a defender and slipped the ball to the right of Erie CC goalie Madison Kiernan, who was charging on the play.

Besides that, the Cannoneers had very few scoring opportunities until they made a late push near the end of the game, playing with a sense of urgency that seemed to be lacking for most of the afternoon.

With four minutes left, JCC freshman Anna Teal lofted a pass to a pack of players in front of the goal. A scramble ensued where Morgan Kiernan fell on her back after an apparent trip, but no call was made and the Kats eventually booted the ball out of harm’s way.

“We didn’t get the call, and that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Bowhall said.

With six minutes to go, Kiernan took a shot that deflected off the goalie’s hand to Heidi Bush, but her putback was also stopped.

Kate Gehrke put a good-looking shot just inches over the top of the crossbar off of a Melissa Abbate corner kick with 16 minutes left.

Bowhall estimated that the Cannoneers fired off about 30 shots in the first meeting between the two teams this season, which was a 6-0 victory for JCC.

“We knew we wanted this rematch against them to prove that we are the better team,” said Olson, who missed that game with a concussion.

Despite the loss to a lower seed, Bowhall believes that his team outplayed its potential entering the season.

“It was a year that we were told we were supposed to be rebuilding, so to speak,” Bowhall said. “We’re happy to make the playoffs. Our goal at the beginning of the season was to be better than we were at the beginning by the end, and we did that. A lot of people didn’t think we would be in the playoffs and we proved them wrong.”

Erie CC will play at No. 3 Mohawk Valley CC in a quarterfinal game on Tuesday.

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