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CHARLESTON, W. Va. - On the strength of two first-half goals, the third-seeded Daemen College women's soccer team knocked off sixth-seeded Carlow University 2-0 today in the quarterfinal round of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championships at Trace Fork Field.  The Wildcats (5-13-1) advance to the semifinals for the thid straight year and will face the winner of No. 2 SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry vs. No. 7 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences which gets underway at 7:30 tonight.

Freshman forward Stephanie Zurales (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) put Daemen on the board in the 19th minute of the contest.  Zurales took a long pass from senior midfiedler Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone) and fired a rocket of a shot which caromed off of Carlow goalkeeper Ashlyn Fratto and across the goaline.  It was the greenhorn's first career goal.

Later in the half, a crossing feed from junior Ashley Griffin (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) was sent to the back of the net neatly by senior Juli Prentice (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden), giving Daemen a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute.  For Prentice, it was her second goal of the season and the seventh of her career.

That was all the scoring that would be needed for the Wildcats to claim their 14th consecutive victory over the Celtics dating back to 2001.  The former rivals of the now defunct American Mideast Conference last met in the 2012 USCAA National Championships semifinals when sixth-seeded Daemen took down second-seeded Carlow, 2-1, en route to winning the national title.  Carlow, now a dual-member of the USCAA and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), fell to 8-6 overall this season with today's result.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) made two saves to earn her third sheutout of the season and the fifth of her career.  Today's game marked Haessner's first action in goal at the USCAA National Championships after missing last season's tournament with an injury.

Daemen dominated possession of the ball today, and the stat sheet reflected as such.  The Wildcats owned commanding edges in total shots (19-3), shots on goal (13-2) and corner kicks (12-0).

The win today also moved Daemen to 6-1 in USCAA tournament games in the last three seasons.  The Wildcats are 13-4 against all USCAA opponents in that time span.

Tomorrow's semifinal is set for 3 p.m. back at Trace Fork Field.  Coach Dan Dolan's squad will be watching intently as SUNY-ESF (12-1) battles Albany Pharmacy (12-5) for the right to face Daemen.  Live stats and live streaming video will be available for tomorrow's game, and for all the latest information, visit the USCAA Soccer National Championships webpage.  Daemen will be playing tomorrow for the opportunity to advance to its third consecutive USCAA title game.