AMHERST, N.Y. - Freshman midfielder Andrea D'Sa (Bellmore, N.Y./W.C. Mephamp) broke a 3-3 tie late in the second half to pave the way for the Daemen College women's soccer team to come out on the victorious side of a 4-3 barn-burner over visiting Dowling College in an East Coast Conference contest held at Dimp Wagner Stadium this afternoon.

With the win, Daemen evens its ECC record (4-4-0) this season, adding to their conference win total which was already greater than the team's first two seasons in the NCAA Division II conference combined.  It also pushes Daemen to 7-9-1 overall and continues the Wildcats' hot play of late as coach Dan Dolan's team is now 3-1 in their last four outings.  With the loss, the visiting Golden Lions, an ECC Tournament qualifier last season, fell to 6-8-2 overall, and 2-4-2 in the league.

D'Sa's tally, her second of the season, at the 73:54 mark was part of a wild second half that saw the teams combine for five goals in the period, and it capped an offensive outburst for the Wildcats.  The four goals today are the most that Daemen has ever scored in an ECC contest since joining the league in 2013, matching their total from a 4-1 win over Saint Thomas Aquinas College on October 5, 2013.

Daemen got on the board first today, the ninth time this season they've gone up 1-0.  This time, it was junior Kelly DuVall (Addison, N.Y./Addison) who netted her first goal of the season on a penalty kick at the 15:15 mark.  DuVall took the penalty kick which was awarded after sophomore Stephanie Zurales (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) was hauled down inside the box, beating Dowling goalkeeper Mariah Valva with a low shot inside the left post.  It was DuVall's first goal since netting the first of career in the afore-mentioned 4-1 win over STAC in 2013.

The Daemen defense, paced by the quartet of senior Meghan Lipinoga (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Canisius College), sophomore Rose Carboni (Endicott, N.Y./Union Endicott) and freshmen Alex Valenti (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence) and Monique Green (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South), did the job for the majority of the opening frame as Dowling did not record a shot on goal until the 36:53 mark.

But, Dowling would get the equalizer at the 39:34 mark when Amber Pindulic scored her third goal of the season, sending a shot from the top of the box that found its way inside the right post.

Play opened up with the five-goal eruption in the second half, kicked off by Dowling who established their first lead of the game when Kelly McQuail scored at the 51:21 mark.  McQuail took a pass from Christina Cottone that resulted in a semi-breakaway and she looped a shot over Daemen goalkeeper Meaghan O'Leary (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) for her fourth marker of the season.

Moments later, it appeared as if Daemen would find themselves in a two-goal hole when Dowling was awarded a penalty kick at the 52:03 mark but the Golden Lions' attempt sailed wide.

Shortly thereafter, Daemen re-tied the game at the 55:16 mark when Lipinoga touched home her second goal of the season.  Carboni's free kick from 30 yards out hit off the crossbar and Lipinoga read the play beautifully, putting herself in position to gather the rebound and tap it into an open net.

Then, at the 67:34 mark, Cottone put the visitors ahead once more, netting her first goal of the season.  A Dowling corner kick resulted in a header attempt which was saved by a Daemen defender, but Cottone found the ball amidst a scrum at the goal line and touched it into the goal.

But, Daemen would regroup, and regroup quickly, evening the score again just 10 seconds after Cottone's marker.  Zurales was again hauled down in the box resulting in a penalty kick which was again taken and scored by DuVall.

That set the stage for D'Sa, a Long Island native, to provide some heroics for the Wildcats against their Long Island rivals.  Sophomore striker Alex Juliano (Hamburg, N.Y./Nardin) broke loose into the left side of the box and her initial shot was turned aside by Valva, but it caromed right to a streaking D'Sa who tapped the ball into a wide open net.

That was all she wrote as the Daemen defense stiffened, keeping the Golden Lions at bay for the remainder of the contest.  O'Leary made eight saves in the contest, one more than her counterpart Valva, including one late in the game after D'Sa had put Daemen ahead.

The win today marked Daemen's first win in the all-time series against the Golden Lions which began back in 2013.

Despite the win, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Daemen today.  Following Long Island University Post's 5-0 win over Molloy College yesterday, the Wildcats have been officially eliminated from ECC Tournament contention.  With four wins, and thus 12 points in the ECC standings, the best Daemen could do with a win in their regular-season finale would be to tie Mercy College (15 points, 5-3-0 ECC record) for fourth place (if Mercy were to lose to Molloy in their finale tomorrow), but Mercy owns the tie-breaker over Daemen by virtue of their head-to-head win on September 25.

Daemen's regular season concludes on Sunday when they welcome ECC-leading and nationally-ranked University of Bridgeport to Dimp Wagner Stadium this Sunday, November 1 for an 11 a.m. matinee.