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msoc 2016 schedule release
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Men's Soccer

McColl Announces 2016 Men's Soccer Schedule

Daemen Home Games To Be Played At The Park School This Season

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's soccer team will host back-to-back home games in early September to officially open its 2016 season as first-year head coach Bobby McColl announced the Wildcats' upcoming schedule today.  

In addition to the full slate of 17 regular season games, McColl also announced that the Wildcats' home venue this season will the The Park School Field located just a short drive from campus at 4625 Harlem Road.  Daemen, which had used Amherst High School's Dimp Wagner Stadium as its home site for the last several years, has made a commitment in partnership with The Park School of Buffalo to develop the field into a first-rate natural-grass playing surface and competition venue.

"I'm excited about the schedule we've put together, and the new partnership we've formed with The Park School," said McColl who was appointed as the fifth head coach in program history earlier this year.  "The objective is to challenge ourselves in non-conference play in preparation for what I anticipate to be another tough East Coast Conference schedule.  Although I was working on the women's side of the league for the last few years, I've kept an eye on the men's standings and I know the league traditionally produces some high quality teams.  We are building a program here and I'm looking forward to seeing how we'll take that first step."

Before the campaign officially gets underway, Wildcat fans will be treated to an exhibition game against University at Buffalo on August 26 at UB Stadium.  The game will mark Daemen's first-ever exhibition against a Division I opponent, and it comes against a Bulls team which went 8-7-4 last season, falling in the championship game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

 
DAEMEN MEN'S SOCCER
2016 SCHEDULE
BY THE NUMBERS
Total Games 17
Home Games 9
Road Games 8
East Coast Conference Games 9
Games vs. East Region Opponents 10
Games vs. Atlantic Region Opponents 4
Games vs. Midwest Region Opponents 1
Game vs. Non-Division II Opponents 2
Games vs. Northeast-10 Conference Opponents 1
Games vs. Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Opponents 4
Games vs. Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Opponents 1
Games vs. 2015 NCAA Tournament Qualifiers 2
Games vs. 2015 Conference Tournament Qualifiers 7
Games vs. 2015 10-Game Winners 6
Lock Haven University of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference visits Amherst on September 1 for the Wildcats' official season opener.  The LHU Bald Eagles went 6-5 in PSAC play last season (7-11-1 overall), qualifying for the conference tournament for the first time since 2011.  That's followed by a visit from Ashland University of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on September 3.  It'll be the first game for the newly developed AU Eagles program which has been relaunched after it was discontinued prior to the 2013 season.  In 18 previous seasons, the Eagles hold an all-time record of 171-127-28 and five NCAA Division II postseason berths.  The two home contests are the first of a program record nine this season, matching that of the 2003 and 2005 seasons.  It also marks the first time Daemen has begun a season at home since 2010.

On September 5, Daemen hits the road for the first time in search of its first-ever win in the all-time series with Le Moyne College (0-4 all-time), which was resumed in 2013 after a nine-year hiatus.  The meeting this season will mark the third in the last four seasons, and it comes as Le Moyne, a Northeast-10 Conference affiliate, is coming off a 12-6-1 campaign last season in which they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The Dolphins are the first of three opponents who were included in the final East Region rankings of 2015, coming in at No. 6.

Another PSAC Tournament qualifier makes the trek to Amherst when California University visits on September 10.  The Vulcans went 9-7-1 overall and 6-4-1 in PSAC play last season to make their second straight conference tournament appearance, and their fourth in the last five seasons.  

The following day, Daemen resumes a local rivalry with Division III D'Youville College.  The Wildcats and Spartans met last year for the first time since 2002 as Daemen escaped with a 1-0 victory on the strength of Frank Poppolo's (Brampton, Ont./West Virginia Wesleyan College) goal in the 69th minute and Justin Figler's (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) two saves in the first shutout of his career.

Daemen will lock up with Gannon University for the third straight season on September 13 when the Golden Knights travel here.  GU is coming off a 7-9 campaign last season which included a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats in Erie, Pa.  Daemen scored a 3-1 win in the Golden Knights' last trip to Amherst on September 16, 2014 with a multi-goal game by Cole Beale (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) which included the game-winner in the 42nd minute.

ECC play gets underway when the Wildcats host Mercy College (September 16) and Saint Thomas Aquinas College (September 18) in the typical Friday-Sunday fashion of conference play.  Daemen will be looking to knock off Mercy for the first time since joining the ECC in 2013, and for their second win versus STAC in that span.  The matchups mark the completion of an eight-game stretch which includes six home games.

The Wildcats visit ECC foes Queens College and Molloy College the following weekend, September 30 and October 2, respectively.  Queens finished in third place with a 7-3 record in the league last season (7-10 overall), qualifying for the ECC Tournament, while Molloy (10-6 overall, 5-5 ECC) finished one win back of tournament contention in sixth place.

The renewal of the Thruway Rivalry between Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan College takes place at The Park School Field on October 5.  The two former American Mideast Conference rivals followed similar paths to NCAA Division II and East Coast Conference membership, and the rivalry has heated up of late as the last four meetings have gone to overtime.  Daemen snapped a six-game slide in the series with a 3-2 win in the 2013 season-opener, getting to "golden goal" from Alex Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport).  RWC answered with a 2-1 win three weeks later, but Daemen rebounded with a 2-1 win of their own on October 11, 2014; Reid again netted the game-winner.  Last year's meeting finished in a 3-3 draw in Rochester with Reid netting the equalizer for the Wildcats in the 68th minute.  RWC is coming off a 10-7-2 campaign last season, including a 5-4-1 mark in ECC play to finish fifth in the league standings.

Daemen takes a one-game break from ECC play when they visit Washington Adventist University on October 7 in the Washington, D.C. metro area.  The WAU Shock, a dual-member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), went 3-8-2 last season.

The Wildcats' ECC slate resumes two days later when they visit University of the District of Columbia.  UDC has won the last two meetings after the teams battled to a 2-2 draw in the initial all-time meeting back on October 26, 2013.  UDC finished with a 5-11-1 record last season, including a 3-7 mark in the league.

On October 11, Daemen takes on University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, marking the fourth straight season that the Wildcats and Mountain Cats have met.  Daemen has won the three prior meetings, including a 3-2 double-overtime victory in their 2015 home opener.

The Wildcats close the season by facing three of the four ECC Tournament qualifiers from last season, two of which were also ranked in final East Region rankings.  N.Y. Institute of Technology, coming off a 12-6-1 campaign (7-3 ECC) and a No. 7 regional ranking, travels to Upstate N.Y. on October 14.  That's followed by a meeting with the defending ECC champs from Long Island University Post on October 16.  LIU Post, the class of the conference with five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, achieved a 15-3-3 overall record, and a 9-1 mark in league play last season, en route to a No. 3 regional ranking, a No. 12 national ranking, an a spot in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.  The regular season closes on October 23 when Daemen visits University of Bridgeport.  The Purple Knights went 10-7 overall and 6-4 in ECC play to wrap up the league's fourth and final postseason berth.

Daemen is coming off a 2015 season in which they went 2-13-1 overall and 0-9-1 in ECC play.  McColl's team returns its top two scorers from last season - the afore-mentioned Reid and sophomore Kyle Tracy (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) who combined for nine goals, two assists and 20 points.  Also back is Figler, the team's starting net-minder, who played every second of every game as a true freshman last season, making 88 saves.

Pre-season training camp for the Wildcats gets underway on August 15.

For continuing coverage and breaking news surrounding the Daemen men's soccer team follow@DaemenAthletics and @DaemenMSOC on Twitter.

 
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Players Mentioned

Frank Poppolo

#8 Frank Poppolo

M
6' 3"
Senior
Cole Beale

#10 Cole Beale

M/F
5' 10"
Senior
Justin Figler

#1 Justin Figler

GK
5' 11"
Sophomore
Alex Reid

#22 Alex Reid

M/F
5' 7"
Senior
Kyle Tracy

#19 Kyle Tracy

M
5' 10"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Frank Poppolo

#8 Frank Poppolo

6' 3"
Senior
M
Cole Beale

#10 Cole Beale

5' 10"
Senior
M/F
Justin Figler

#1 Justin Figler

5' 11"
Sophomore
GK
Alex Reid

#22 Alex Reid

5' 7"
Senior
M/F
Kyle Tracy

#19 Kyle Tracy

5' 10"
Sophomore
M