ALBANY, N.Y. -- American International struck twice within the opening 26 minutes and went on to defeat Saint Rose on Friday at Sullivan Field. The Yellow Jackets advance to their first national quarterfinal appearance on Sunday afternoon.
Senior forward Mariah Shade scored both goals for the winners. Junior back Caroline Boyce, sophomore back Romina Bell and junior forward Sonia Basma each picked up an assist.
Junior keeper Sam Tabak made all three saves in the second half for American International while senior Jessica Gerski recorded a stop in each half for the fourth-ranked Golden Knights, who end their season at 20-1-2.
Bell initiated the first strike with a free kick from midfield that sailed to the right side of the area. Boyce then touched it on a diagonal across to Shade who drove it home with 15:03 elapsed. Eleven minutes later, Basma set up Shade with to score the insurance goal.
The shots wound up at 12 apiece. Each squad also engineered five corner kick opportunities with Saint Rose pushing the pressure throughout the final 45 minutes after the Yellow Jackets manufactured 7-3 shot advantage throughout the first period.
