AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's soccer team continued to make history on Saturday night, as the Gyrenes moved on in The Sun Conference Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Warner in the quarterfinal round at Gyrene Field. The win, powered by an Emily Dalton hat trick, was Ave Maria's first ever postseason victory, and set up a date on Tuesday afternoon with the defending national champions in the semifinals.

Warner got on the board first, scoring in the 16th minute. A cross from Maddie Manzke, who scored twice in last week's game between the teams, found the foot of Kirstin Campbell, who beat the goalkeeper for her second goal of the season. The goal, which came just over 15 minutes into the match, gave Warner a 1-0 lead that would last just over 18 minutes.

In the 34th minute, the history-making performance from Emily Dalton began. The senior took a free kick from just over 30 yards out, and buried her shot over the head of the Warner goalkeeper for her 12th goal of the season. Dalton's goal evened the match at one, a score that would hold for the final ten-plus minutes into the halftime break.

After nearly 30 minutes of scoreless play in the second half, Dalton came through again in the 74th minute. After a Warner foul in the box, the senior stepped up to the spot and buried the penalty kick for her second goal of the night and her 13th of the season. Of Dalton's 13 goals to that point, it was her second to come on a penalty kick, and gave Ave Maria a 2-1 lead with just under 17 minutes to play. 

Ave Maria's insurance goal came in the 84th minute on a quick counter-attack. After gaining possession, a quick pass found Sarah Dalton, who played a perfect through ball to her sister. Emily Dalton finished the shot to complete her second hat trick of the season. The senior becomes just the third player in AMU history to log multiple hat tricks in the same season, joining Alex Wardrope (2012) and Victoria Johnson (2013). 

AMU outshot Warner in the victory, logging 13 shots to just seven for the Royals. In addition to nine shots and five shots on goal from Dalton, shots were also added by Hannah Dalton, Lauren Brooks, Brenda Tubb, and Beth Staufenberger. In goal, goalkeeper Maddie Samuelson made four saves to earn her sixth win of the season. Her counterpart, Gabrielle Barnette, also made four saves for Warner.

The Gyrenes will now get a third opportunity against the defending national champions from Keiser University. The second-seeded Seahawks defeated the third-seeded Gyrenes by scores of 3-1 and 1-0 during the regular season. The winner will advance to Friday's conference championship game, where they will take on either top-seeded Southeastern or the winner of Sunday's game between fourth-seeded USCB and fifth-seeded St. Thomas. Kickoff between AMU and Keiser is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday in West Palm Beach.