Appleton, WI - Considering that no team in 15 years has come back to win the NCAA Division 3 College World Series after losing its opening-round baseball, Montclair State's 5-1 loss to Cortland State of New York yesterday was a shocking and devastating blow to a team considered by many to be the favorite to win it all.

Or was it?

Montclair, which takes on Emory of Georgia at 11 a.m. today in the losers bracket of the double-elmination tournament, didn't seem shocked or devastated after the loss.

"Sure, we now have a very tough road to hoe," Montclair coach Norm Schoenig said after the lackluster loss to Cortland at Fox Cities Stadium. "But we can't think about the entire tournament, about winning it all. We have a great group of guys who have a great deal of heart and resiliency. I fully expect them to bounce back."

Losing pitcher Greg Belson agreed.

"We're going to bounce back," he said. "We've done that all year."

Schoenig quickly shifted focus from the loss to the Emory game.

"Im glad we're playing  at 10 (Central time) in the morning," he said. "We can come out early, get the bad taste of this game out of our mouths. And as far as I'm concerned, I know we're going to play well. If we win, we have the rest of the day off to get ready for Sunday. You try to take it as far as you can."

Montclair (37-7-1) was held to one run or less fr only the second time in 45 games, even after the team that batted .377 and averaged nearly 11 runs per game was totally shut down by Cortland righty Phil Benante - a pitcher Montclair touched for five runs in the first inning before he retired a single batter in an 11-9 Montclair victory on March 24.

Benante got his revenge yesterday. The potent Montclair attack was silenced by Benante's array of off-speed pitches as he mixed a slider, a sharp, breaking cut fastball and a nasty changeup to perfection.

Third baseman CRAIG CONWAY drove in the lone Montclair run with a first-inning single.

"He hit his spots and kept it away from us," Conway said. "Give him credit because I'm not sure what he did but our offense wasn't a strong and we didn't swing he bats as well as we usually do."

"They had a plan in mind," Schoenig said. "Their pitcher threw an exceptional game, throwing a heavy ball that's hard to lift. With the wind blowing in, they played their outfield in and the positioning was outstanding."

Almost daring Montclair to his it over their heads, Cortland (36-7) placed its outfielders some 250 feet from home plate. Thirteen out were recorded in the air, most on short pop-us that might have fallen n another day.

The lack offensive production turned Belson into a loser ofr only the second time in 12 decisions. Like the offense, Belson wasn't at his best, surrendering four earned runs and eight hits while walking and uncharacteristic eight batters and striking out five.

Montclair scored its run in the bottom of the first. DAVE WURST led off with a single and, two batters later, scored on Conway's single.