FARMINGTON, Maine – Well, it wasn't pretty, that's for sure.

But somewhere amidst the elbowing, shirt-pulling, and bodies flying to the ground all over the field, the University of Maine at Farmington managed to find a 1-0 win over New England College, in Sunday's North Atlantic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament quarterfinal matchup at Prescott Field.

The win sends fourth-seeded UMaine-Farmington (11-6-1) into the NAC Tournament semifinals on Wednesday, Oct. 31, against top-seeded Colby-Sawyer College, who were 4-1 victors over Lyndon State College in another quarterfinal contest. New England College winds up its season with a 9-9-1 overall record.

The Beavers clearly came out on top on the stat sheet, with UMaine-Farmington outshooting New England College, 21-3, and taking 11 corner kicks to the Pilgrims' two. Of those 21 shots, 10 were on goal – including four by forward Ava Amador (Farmington, Maine/Mt. Blue) and three by reserve midfielder Alexandra Crocker (Glenburn, Maine/Orono).

"We did what we needed to do to get the win," said UMF head women's soccer coach Molly Wilkie. "I thought we played really tough overall, and one of the biggest differences for us was that we got some really great contributions from our reserves today. They gave us a spark, and they played really meaningful minutes."

But make no mistake about it: this was an intensely physical contest that saw players both sent to the ground in somersaults and upended into back flips – and pretty much everything in between.

Even the game's lone goal came off a battle for space on a set piece.

Senior forward Alida Peake (Penobscot, Maine/George Stevens Academy) directed her corner kick in the 62^nd minute toward the near post, where the Beavers' Rachel Clement (Gray, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) and the Pilgrims' Melissa Wagner (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) were jousting for position. Both players went up to head the ball, with Clement having the advantage of being in front.

And regardless of who touched the ball last, Clement got at least a piece of it and the ball sailed past Pilgrim keeper Tricia Sardagnola (Shrewsbury, Mass.), who had moved up to the front post and was unable to react to the redirection. Clement was credited with the goal, her third of the year, while Peake earned her first assist of 2012.

 "Alida (Peake) had a great corner kick, and Rachel Clement did an outstanding job creating some chaos in the box," said Wilkie.

From there, the Beavers' defense fought off the Pilgrims' relentless counterattacks. New England College applied plenty of pressure, but UMF held the Pilgrims to just one shot over the remaining 28 minutes of play after the Beavers took their 1-0 lead.

Farmington keeper Beth Lebel (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston) recorded just one save on the afternoon, while Sardagnola charted nine stops in the Pilgrims' goal.

The exact start time for UMaine-Farmington's NAC tournament semifinal at Colby-Sawyer will be determined on Monday.

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