CHARLESTON, W. Va. - The Daemen College women's soccer team survived a scare in its quarterfinal round game of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championships today, defeating tenth-seeded West Virginia University Institute of Technology 3-2 at Schoenbaum Stadium tonight. Daemen, the No. 2 seed and the defending USCAA National Champions, improved to 9-9-0 on the season as they battled the tournament hosts WV Tech who sported a strong home crowd but fell to 5-14-0.

It was a miraculous goal from sophomore back Meghan Lipinoga (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Canisius College) in the 66th minute that broke a 2-2 tie and pushed Daemen's national tournament winning streak to four straight.  Senior striker Samantha Engel (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) sent a free kick into the box where it was deflected by a Golden Bears defender out to Lipinoga who, with her back facing the goal, executed a perfect bicycle kick, sending the shot past WV Tech goalkeeper Bridget Goss and igniting an eruption from the Daemen faithful in attendance.

For Lipinoga, who was named a Second Team USCAA All-American at the National Championships Banquet last night, it was her second game-winning goal of the season, having earned that feat in Daemen's 4-1 win at Cleary University on Oct. 13.

The game-winner came after the underdog Golden Bears erased a 1-0 Daemen lead with two straight scores in the first half.

Senior Kacey Bougard (East Aurora, N.Y./Sacred Heart) got Daemen on the board early with her team-leading 13th goal of the season at the 7:01 mark off a feed from Engel.

But, WV Tech answered back, scoring back-to-back goals from Sierrah Soto (14:50) and Cassie Basile (19:42) - both off passes from Catie Crumb - to take the lead, pleasing the raucous home crowd.

Engel picked up her eighth tally of the season off a feed from Bougard to knot the score at 2-all in the 25th minute, setting the stage for Lipinoga's landmark goal in the second half.

Senior goalkeeper Rachel Reichart (Marilla, N.Y./Iroquois Central) was called upon to make one save to pick up the victory in what was her fourth consecutive start as regular starter Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) continues to work her way back from injury.  Reichart improved to 3-2-0 on the season with the win tonight.

"It took us a while to settle down and play our kind of game," said Daemen head coach Dan Dolan.  "You have to give a lot of credit to West Virginia Tech.  The atmosphere was awesome and they battled us all game.  I was happy to see us not panic and be resilient after getting down in the game."

Daemen held the advantage in total shots (15-5), shots on goal (11-4) and corner kicks (9-4).

The game, originally scheduled for 5:15 p.m., was pushed back by more than an hour due to lagging play in the games beforehand at Schoenbaum Stadium.

With the win, Daemen improved to 39-2-1 when scoring two or more goals since the start of the 2010 season, including wins in 14 straight such games. The Wildcats are now 5-0-0 this season and have won nine straight dating back to last season against USCAA opponents.

Daemen now advances to the semifinal round of the USCAA National Championships where they'll face No. 6 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.  The Lady Panthers advanced by upsetting No. 3 Florida College 3-2 in Thursday's quarterfinal nightcap.  Tomorrow's semifinal is slated for 6:15 p.m. at the Trace Fork Soccer Complex.