Box Score

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's soccer suffered its second straight loss in East Coast Conference play, dropping a 3-1 decision to Molloy College on a brisk afternoon at Dimp Wagner Stadium today.  Molloy (1-5-0, 1-1-0 ECC) picked up its first win of the season, snapping a 14-game winless streak dating back to last season, and evening their conference record in the process.  Daemen, dropped to 3-3-0 overall and 0-2-0 in conference action.

An early second half goal from Molloy's Alicia Mercurio proved to be the difference.  She picked up a rebound near the goaline and put it into the net, breaking a 1-1 tie in the 49th minute.  

The Lions got on the board first when Allison Sloper scored on a similar type of play, collecting a rebound in the box and putting it home in the 6th minute of the contest.

Daemen got the equalizer in the 20th minute when senior Samantha Engel (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) scored for the second straight day - her fourth tally of the season.  Classmate Kacey Bougard (East Aurora, N.Y./Sacred Heart) broke free up the right wing and into the box and sent a crossing feed to the streaking Engel who booted a low shot from the center of the box.

Daemen's best chance to knot the score came in the 82nd minute.  Engel sent a pass into the box on a free kick from 35 yards out on the right side which found the head of junior midfielder Juli Prentice (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden).  Prentice got a good shot off but was thwarted by Molloy goalkeeper Nicole DellaPorta.

Molloy would add an insurance goal in the 89th minute when Sloper found Danielle Valente alone in the middle of the box.  The Wildcats had switched their formation, putting more players forward in an attempt to tie the game leaving them vulnerable in the back, a vulnerability that Valente took advantage of.

"We played like a frustrated team and we struggled to keep possession," said Daemen head coach Dan Dolan.  "We need to raise our level of play moving forward in this conference."

Molloy was without a doubt the more aggressive of the two teams.  They finished with 18 total shots, putting 11 on frame.  Daemen, meanwhile, managed just seven shots and four shots on goal.  After Engel's tally in the first half, the Wildcats did not get another scoring opportunity until a hard shot from sophomore Ashley Griffin (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) in the 72nd minute.

The Lions brought a physical style of play and were whistled for 19 fouls in the game, compared to just five for Daemen.

Daemen allowed three goals for the second straight game.  They had come into this weekend with three shutouts in their first four games and just one goal allowed total.  Molloy, on the other hand, had a breakout day.  They entered today's game with just two goals in their first five games of the season.

DellaPorta made three saves to earn her first victory of the season between the pipes for Molloy.  Her counterpart, Daemen's Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia), made seven saves in a losing effort.

The Wildcats will look to regroup next Saturday (Sept. 28) when they make the short trek to Rochester, N.Y. to face longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College in a 1 p.m. tilt.