MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The No. 3 seed University of Denver women's soccer team advanced to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Semifinals after knocking off No. 6 seed South Alabama 2-0 on Wednesday afternoon at the Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium on the campus of Middle Tennessee.

Junior forward Katy Van Lieshout (Boulder, Colo.) and sophomore forward Kristen Hamilton (Littleton, Colo.) scored goals for the Pioneers. Junior goalkeeper Lara Campbell (Anchorage, Alaska) recorded her fifth individual shutout and the Pioneers' 10^th team shutout this season.

“It was nice to get the first goal in the first half,” head coach Jeff Hooker said. “I thought that we finished our attacks today.  At this point it’s win and survive, and we were able to keep a clean sheet in the back, so I’m very proud of that.” 

In the 20^th minute Hamilton started the Pioneers' (16-4-0) first scoring chance down the right side of the field. Hamilton found sophomore midfielder Nicholette DiGiacomo(Golden, Colo.) at the top of the box, DiGiacomo played it right back to Hamilton, and then Hamilton slid a pass into the center of the box to a running Van Lieshout for the Pioneers breakthrough.

Hamilton scored in the 59^th minute as the Pioneers turned the Jaguars (12-5-3) over in the DU attacking third, getting behind the Jaguars defense and slotting her strike into the corner of the net for the 2-0 DU advantage.

After a three point afternoon, Hamilton sits a goal and two points away from DU single-season records.

Despite controlling possession virtually the whole match, the Pioneers took just nine shots, but held the Jaguars to only 3 shots. DU also held a 4-1 advantage in corners.  

No. 2 seed Florida International won the tournament's first match 2-0 over No. 7 seed Arkansas State.  The Pioneers and the Golden Panthers will square off in a rematch of last year's SBC Semifinal on Thursday at 3 p.m. MT. 

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