HOLMDEL, N.J. — New Jersey Copa FC head coach Roberto Aguas certainly liked what he saw in his team’s season-opening win over the Rochester Lady Lancers Saturday night.

NJ Copa FC, finalists in last year’s United Women’s Soccer championship game, recorded a 6-0 victory at Saint John Vianney High School.

In a game played under steady, heavy rains and whipping winds with temperatures hovering in the mid-40s, NJCFC (1-0) outshot Rochester, 25-4.

“This was certainly a great start to our sophomore season,” Aguas said. “Despite playing in tough conditions in a consistent, heavy rain, we found great rhythm in our play which translated into dominating possession throughout the match. Defensively, we were solid throughout with very few mistakes and those seldom few were mainly caused by the tough conditions.”

Second-half substitute Katarina Nilsson led the way with two second-half goals in the 61st and 67th minutes. Lauren Mazich (29th minute), Camille Bowen (37th minute), Jeanine Nunez (52nd minute) and Gianna Smith (85th minute) also scored for the home side.

“Above all else, our attack continued the same success we found last year,” Aguas said. “With five different players scoring the six goals, it shows how deep our attack can be. We are excited for this season as the ladies feel they have unfinished business to take care of after losing in the national finals in double overtime last year. We’re back to work this week as we prepare for our match next weekend.”

NJCFC heads to South Huntington, N.Y. for road match with the Long Island Rough Riders at Cy Donnelly Stadium Saturday at 5 p.m.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.