Box Score TOURNAMENT WEBSITE / BRACKET / TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD

CHARLESTON, W.Va, - In 2012, the Daemen College women's soccer team defeated the Universit of Maine-Fort Kent to win the United States Collegiate Athletic Assocation (USCAA) national championship.  In 2013, it was UMFK's turn to walk in the winners circle, downing Daemen 3-2 in overtime.  Today was the rubber match, and in the end, it was top-seeded UMFK scoring a 2-0 victory over third-seeded Daemen on the strength of two second-half tallies to capture their second consecutive USCAA title.

After going to the half knotted at 0-0, UMFK's Brianna Mills put the Lady Bengals on the board when she scored on a free kick in the 73rd minute.  Mills took the kick from 30 yards out and beat Daemen goalkeeper Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) with a rocket of a shot that snuck under the crossbar.

Later, it was an insurance goal from striker Katherine Ferland in the 86th minute that squelched any hopes of a Daemen equalizer.  For Ferland, the USCAA Player of the Year, it was her 31st goal of the season with the assist going to Marie-Laurence Montagne.

It was all over but for the shouting at that point, and as the clock expired UMFK celebrated their third national title in the last four seasons.

The Daemen offense never got in gear today, as the Wildcats were outshot 11-3.  The Lady Bengals also generated an edge in corner kick opportunities (8-3).

Haessner made five saves in defeat for the Wildcats, several of which were of highlight-reel quality.  Her counterpart, Michelle Delgadillo stopped all three of Daemen's scoring attempts to earn the shutout.

Today's game is just another chapter in what's become a legitimate rivalry.  The two teams have now met eight times in the last three seasons, including the three postseason matchups.  UMFK owns a 5-3 lead in the series in that span.  Daemen's win in the 2012 title game erased memories of three regular-season losses to the Lady Bengals that season, and it snapped UMFK's 33-game winning streak.  Daemen defeated UMFK in the 2013 regular season, and again this year, winning 2-0 in Amherst on Sept. 7.  Of the eight recent meetings, all have been decided by two goals or less, half have been one-goal differences and three have gone to overtime.  

Daemen closes its 2014 season with an overall record of 6-14-1.

The Lady Bengals improved their season mark to 15-2-1, and they are now 63-4-3 over the past four seasons.  Three of those four losses have come against Daemen.

Today's game also marked the end of the line for Daemen seniors Meghan Diehl (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas), Juli Prentice (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden), Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone), Faye-Lynn Noel (Williamsville, N.Y./Christian Central) and Rachael Banasik (Depew, N.Y./Depew).  Diehl and Prentice, the two seniors who have been on the team each year since 2011, have led Daemen to a 42-37-1 record in their careers.  Banasik, who unfortunately missed the USCAA tournament with an injury, has seen 53 Wildcat victories since her career began in 2010, including a redshirt season in 2011.