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CHARLESTON, W. Va. - A first-half tally by senior midfielder Juli Prentice (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) was all the scoring that was needed to lift the Daemen College women's soccer team past SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry, 1-0, in today's semifinal round of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championships at Trace Fork Field.  

The third-seeded Wildcats improve to 6-13-1 overall this season, and advance to the USCAA title game which is set for tomorrow (Nov. 8) at 1 p.m.  Today's result marks the third straight year that Daemen has advanced to the USCAA national championship game.

SUNY-ESF, the tournament's No. 2 seed, suffered just their second blemish of the season, falling to 13-2.

Prentice put the Wildcats on the board with her second goal in as many days, scoring in the 33rd minute when a crossing feed from freshman Stephanie Zurales (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) found her diving foot, beating Mighty Oaks' goalkeeper Kiki Hilmer.  It was another clutch play from Prentice, the team's co-captain, who has come on strong late in the season.  All three of Prentice's goals this season have come in the last 10 days, and today was the second time in that span that she's collected the lone goal in a 1-0 Daemen win, having done so on Oct. 29 to beat Alfred University.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) made five saves to earn her second straight shutout, and her fourth of the season.  Chipping in defensively was the core of Meghan Lipinoga (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Canisius College), Meghan Diehl (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas), Emily Ward (Leonardsville, N.Y./Mount Markham Central), Jess Wisniewski (Rochester, N.Y./Rush-Henrietta) and Rose Carbonia (Endicott, N.Y./Union Endicott).

Daemen led the Might Oaks in both shots (12-9) and shots on goal (8-5).  SUNY-ESF had one additional corner kick opportunity than the Wildcats (5-4).

Hilmer made seven saves to keep the Mighty Oaks within striking distance, albeit in a losing effort.

Tomorrow's title game has the potential to be a rubber match.  Daemen will face the winner of top-seeded University of Maine-Fort Kent and fifth-seeded Florida College.  Should Daemen and UMFK meet, it'll mark the third straight year with the same two teams vying for the championship.  Daemen downed UMFK 1-0 in overtime to take the 2012 USCAA national championship, snapping the Lady Bengals' 33-game winning streak in the process.  UMFK exacted their revenge last season, knocking off the Wildcats 3-2, again in overtime.

Daemen and UMFK have met seven times in the last three seasons with the Lady Bengals owning a 4-3 lead in the series, although Daemen has won three of the last four meetings, including a 2-0 defeat in Amherst earlier this season.  UMFK enters today's semifinal with a record of 13-2-1 and the Lady Bengals are 61-4-3 over the last four seasons, with three-quarters of their losses coming against the Wildcats.

Today's win moves Daemen to 14-4-0 against all USCAA opponents in the last three years, and to 7-1 in USCAA tournament games.

Live stats and live streaming video will be available for tomorrow's championship game.