DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's soccer concluded its 2013 regular season today with a 6-1 loss to Mercy College in East Coast Conference play today at Mavericks Field.  With the loss, Daemen drops below .500 on the season (8-9-0 overall) and finishes its first season of competition in the ECC at 1-8-0.  Mercy improved to 11-3-1 on the season and 6-2-0 in conference play with the win.

Senior forward Kacey Bougard (East Aurora, N.Y./Sacred Heart) got Daemen on the board first, scoring an unassisted tally in the 17th minute, deflecting a Mercy pass to the back right corner of the goal.  

Caitlin McKenna scored an unassisted goal for Mercy to knot the score at 1-1 at the 25:49 mark and the teams took the tie score into halftime.

The second half was all Mercy as they put five shots to the back of the net.

Crystal Mena broke the 1-1 tie in the 52nd minute when she curled in a shot from 30 yards out after a corner kick feed from Stephanie Manta.

McKenna added her second of the game just moments later (54:22) off a crossing feed from Jessica Carillo, giving the host Mavericks a two-goal edge.

Jackie Karras (65:15), Abby Zielinski (65:53) and Jennifer Vega (69:10) added insurance goals for the Mavericks to provide the final margin.  Their six-goal output was their highest total of the season.

McKenna added an assist on Karras' goal to give her a five-point afternoon.

Bougard's tally was her team-leading 12th of the season for Daemen.  She ranks second in the ECC in goals, assists (6) and points (30) this season.

Rachel Reichart (Marilla, N.Y./Iroquois Central) drew her third consecutive start in goal for the Wildcats and made a career-high eight saves, but took the loss.  She was relieved in the 69th minute by team co-captain Juli Prentice (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden).  Prentice, who began her career as goalie but has since made the switch to a full-time position player, saw her first action in goal since Oct. 29, 2011.  She played the final 21:12 today and made three saves.

Nicole Augustine was called upon to make two saves to earn the victory for Mercy.

Mercy launched 34 total shots in the game while Daemen was limited to just five, placing three on frame.

In positive news, senior striker Samantha Engel (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) returned to the lineup for Daemen.  Engel, who has totaled 32 goals and 29 assists in her career, missed the first game of her career due to an injury in Daemen's 3-0 shutout of Alfred University last week.

Daemen will now head directly to Charleston, W. Va. for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships.  The Wildcats are the No. 2 seed in the tournament, and are the defending USCAA national champions.  By virtue of their seed, they received a bye into the quarterfinal round of the 10-team tournament, and will face the winner of Wednesday's pre-quarterfinal matchup between No. 7 Paul Smith's College and No. 10 West Virginia University Institute of Technology on Thursday (Oct. 31) at 5:15 p.m.