Box Score

United States Collegiate Athletic Association
2012 National Championships - Quarterfinals

Daemen (9-9) 1-1--2
Penn College (8-5-2) 0-0--1

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The sixth-seeded Daemen Wildcats picked up the program's first-ever national tournament win today as they knocked off the third-seeded Penn College Wildcats 2-0 in the quarterfinal round of the USCAA National Championships held at the J.B. Lewis Soccer Complex. Daemen (9-9 overall) now advances to the semifinal round where they'll face second-seeded Carlow (Pa.) who advanced with a 3-0 victory today over seventh-seeded Maine-Machias.

Junior Alexa Amato (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) got Daemen on the board in the 22nd minute when she took a feed from freshman Kim Obermeier (Depew, N.Y./Depew) and beat Penn goalkeeper Reda Vermilya. The goal for Amato, which turned out to be the game-winner, was her team-leading ninth of the season and her seventh in the last six games.

After holding a one-goal edge for much of the contest, Daemen added an insurance tally late as Obermeier scored off a feed from freshman Morgan VanScoter (Arkport, N.Y./Arkport) in the 77th minute.

"Kim and Alexa really terrorized their backs today," said Daemen head coach Dan Dolan. "The surface here is very fast and enabled us to use our team speed. We possessed real well and found gaps all game long."

Daemen surrendered just two shots on goal to Penn, both of which were stopped by sophomore Kayla Hampton (DeRuyter, N.Y./DeRuyter) who picked up her third consecutive shutout.

In tomorrow's semifinal match-up (11am start time), Daemen faces a familiar foe in the Carlow Celtics, as both teams are former members of the American Mideast Conference of the NAIA. Dating back to 2001, Daemen has won twelve consecutive games against the Celtics, out-scoring them 49-8 in that span, including seven shutouts and a pair of wins in 2011 (4-1 at Carlow on Oct. 21; 5-0 at home on Sept. 17).