BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Freshman forward Kristen Hamilton (Littleton, Colo.) scored her fourth game-winning goal of the season as No. 1 seeded Denver defeated No. 8 seeded Louisiana-Lafayette 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday morning.

Sophomore forward Kalie Vaughn (Fort Collins, Colo.) opened up the scoring for Denver (18-2, 11-0 SBC) after receiving a through pass from sophomore forward Kaitlin Bast (Centennial, Colo.), faking out the goalkeeper and netting a shot inside the far post in the 19th minute. 

The Ragin' Cajuns (10-11, 5-6 SBC) answered in the 67th minute, however, with a top-shelf goal to even the score.

Hamilton secured the win for Denver when Vaughn played a ball that split the Louisiana-Lafayette defenders, giving Hamilton a two-on-one breakaway opportunity in the 70th minute.

"It was a great goal," head coach Jeff Hooker commented.  "Kalie Vaughn made a perfect play to Kristen Hamilton, who ran on the breakaway, and slid a goal past the goalkeeper on the ground.  There was a lot of pressure on Kristen, but she had a classy finish and kept her composure."

Vaughn has tallied 10 goals and seven assists for Denver this season.

The Pioneers were equal in shots with the Ragin' Cajuns at 15 shots apiece, and had an 8-7 advantage in corner kicks. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Lara Campbell (Anchorage, Alaska) made five saves for Denver.

"When you get to the knockout round of a tournament, you need to survive to advance," Hooker said.  "Today wasn't one of the prettiest games, but we got it done and we won, and now we need to prepare to play FIU."

The Pioneers advance to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and will face No. 4 seeded Florida International in Bowling Green, Ky., on Thursday at 3 p.m. MT.