ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose took the first step towards a fourth consecutive Northeast-10 Conference title with a 5-0 quarterfinal victory against eighth-seed New Haven this afternoon at Sullivan Field at the Christian Plumeri Sports Complex. The Golden Knights (19-0-0) received goals from five different players, with freshman midfielder Sydney Bond setting up three of the strikes.

Top-seed Saint Rose will now host fourth-seed American International in a 4:00 pm semifinal match Thursday. The Yellow Jackets (13-5-1) advanced with today's 2-1 victory against fifth-seed Southern New Hampshire. Back on September 25, the Golden Knights upended American International 1-0 in Albany.

Saint Rose, the nation's top-ranked team according to the latest NSCAA/HendrickCars.com NCAA II Poll, controlled play throughout the majority of the contest and a took a 2-0 lead into halftime, before breaking the game open with three goals in a 17-minute span during the early stages of the second stanza.

Junior midfielders Christina Cuffari, Kimberly Morton, and Brittany Godin all scored for Saint Rose; along with junior forward Nicola D'Errico and freshman forward Carmelina Puopolo .

Meanwhile, senior keeper Deanna Esposito set a school record with her 19th victory of the year. Esposito came up with one save throughout 71 minutes of action. It was a vital one though as New Haven senior midfielder Holly Dawson let go a dangerous strike inside the box in the 29th minute that would have drawn the Chargers (9-8-2) even.

At the other end, senior Kim Taylor recorded five of her eight saves throughout the opening 45 minutes to keep New Haven in the match.

The first three Saint Rose markers came to fruition thanks to some nifty ball control. Cuffari got it going by dribbling into space and letting go a drive from 35-yards out on the left flank that sailed high into the far corner with 11:40 expired. Morton then collected a short feed from Bond and chipped a shot from 15-yards out just under the crossbar with nine minutes remaining until intermission.

Bond then found senior midfielder Amanda Deck just beyond the top of the penalty area at the 54:13 mark. The 2010 NE-10 Player of the Year immediately slipped a deft diagonal ball beyond the reach of a New Haven defender that D'Errico ran onto in stride and one-timed a shot under Taylor who had come off her line to shorten up the angle.

Godin made it 4-0 some 10 minutes later, before Puopolo closed out the scoring with 71:08 elapsed.

Saint Rose has now set single-season school records in all three major scoring categories following today's outburst. The Golden Knights have recorded 205 points on 72 goals and 61 assists; and have allowed a mere six goals all year, one in the first half. Furthermore, senior back Katie Whiting and senior midfielder Kaitlyn Berry; along with Deck; became the first three players to dress in 90 games for Saint Rose.

Also this afternoon, the College designated a $500 check that it had received for winning the 2010 David Brunk Award to Albany Pop Warner. The Brunk Award is presented annually to the Northeast-10 Conference institution that displays the greatest sportsmanship throughout the year. Drew Guingo accepted on behalf of Albany Pop Warner, while Saint Rose Athletics Director Cathy Cummings Haker and NE-10 Assistant Commissioner Amy Resnick presented the check prior to the contest.

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