THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College women's soccer team returns to conference play this weekend when it plays host to Dowling College and the University of Bridgeport...the Wildcats will face Dowling Friday at 11 a.m...Daemen caps the weekend by hosting nationally-ranked Bridgeport Sunday at 11 a.m...live stats for both games can be accessed HERE.

THINK PINK: Sunday's game vs. Bridgeport will be part of the ECC "Pink Week" festivities that will be hosted by each men's and women's soccer team in the conference...at the selected contests, $2 donations will be taken in lieu of admission and ECC Pink Week t-shirts will also be sold for $10...all proceeds from each Pink Week game will be donated to the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation...in addition to gate donations and t-shirt sales, ECC member schools will also sell prize packs, ribbons, and host 50/50 raffles to collect for the respective charitable organizations associated with Pink Week.

SENIOR DAY: In addition to the ECC "Pink Week" festivities, Sunday's game vs. Bridgeport will be the final home contest in the careers of five Daemen seniors.  Alexa Amato (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island), Kacey Bougard (East Aurora, N.Y./Sacred Heart), Nicole Brokaw (Freeville, N.Y./Dryden), Samantha Engel (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) and Rachel Reichart (Marilla, N.Y./Iroquois Central) will be honored in a pre-game ceremony at midfield.

THE COACHES: Dan Dolan is in his fifth season as head coach at Daemen...the 2011 American Mideast Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year, Dolan has led the Wildcats to three consecutive winning seasons and owns a career record of 51-33-2 (.595)...he guided Daemen to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship last fall...Kerri McCabe is in her ninth season as head coach at Dowling and entered the 2013 season with an 86-49-15 (.623) career record...she has guided the Golden Lions to three (2007, 2011, 2012) NCAA Division II Tournament appearances...Magnus Nilerud is in his 15th season as head coach at Bridgeport and entered the 2013 season with a 176-88-17 (.656) career record...he has guided the Purple Knights to five (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) NCAA Tournament appearances and was named the ECC Coach of the Year in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

THE SERIES vs. DOWLING: Friday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Dowling.

THE SERIES vs. BRIDGEPORT: Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Bridgeport.

NCAA DIVISION II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Two of the NCAA Division II membership process...Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and will play full regular-season conference schedules beginning this fall...the College will also maintain its affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) for postseason opportunities, as it will not be eligible for the ECC or NCAA postseason during Candidacy Year Two.

THE WILDCATS (7-6-0; 1-5 ECC): Daemen lost six starters from last year's team that won eight of its final nine contests en route to the USCAA championship...the Wildcats were picked 10th in the ECC preseason poll...Daemen is ranked second in the USCAA national poll released Oct. 11...Daemen won three of its first four games, including a 2-0 win over Maine-Fort Kent in a rematch of last year's USCAA championship game...the Wildcats are 4-2-0 over their last six games and are coming off back-to-back wins over Rochester College (5-0) and Cleary University (4-1) last weekend...five of Daemen's six losses have come against ECC opponents...Daemen dropped two of three conference games during a trip to the New York City area two weeks ago...the Wildcats opened the weekend with a 1-0 OT loss to New York Tech, before recording its first-ever ECC win following a 4-1 win over St. Thomas Aquinas...the Wildcats concluded the trip with a 3-0 loss to defending league champion LIU Post...additional ECC losses have come against Queens (3-1) and Molloy (3-1)...Daemen's backline--led by juniors Hannah Fraser (Milton, Vt./Milton) and Meghan Diehl (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) and redshirt-sophomore Meghan Lipinoga (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Canisius College)--has limited nine of DC's 13 opponents to one goal or less...redshirt senior Kacey Bougard and senior Samantha Engel have paced the offense...Bougard made the most of her first game action since 2010 with a "hat trick" and an assist in a 4-1 season-opening win over Alderson-Broaddus...she was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and USCAA Player of the Week after totaling 10 points (4 gls, 2 asts) in a  recent 2-2-0 week...she registered her second "hat trick" of the season in a 5-0 win over SUNY Canton and added a goal and an assist in the win over STAC...she has totaled a conference-best 10 goals and 25 points on the year...Engel was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and USCAA Player of the Week after totaling a goal and an assist in each of the season-opening wins over A-B and UMFK...she registered seven points (3 gls, 1 ast) in the wins over Rochester and Cleary last weekend and has totaled 18 points (7 gls, 4 asts) overall...senior Alexa Amato, who totaled a team-best 10 goals and 22 points last year, is expected to return to the lineup this weekend after missing the last 11 games with an injury...redshirt freshman Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) has started 12 games in net and made a career-high 13 saves in the loss to LIU Post...she made nine saves in the win over UMFK...that effort earned her ECC Co-Rookie of the Week honors...she owns a 1.52 GAA with two shutouts...redshirt senior Rachel Reichart went the distance in net in the 4-1 win over Cleary...she has appeared in six games and has surrendered just one goal.

THE GOLDEN LIONS (8-2-1; 3-2-0 ECC): Dowling was picked third in the ECC preseason poll...the Golden Lions return 15 players from last year's team that posted a 14-4-3 record (4-2-2 ECC) and made its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance after claiming its second-straight ECC Tournament championship...Dowling advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to 2011 national champion Saint Rose 1-0...Dowling was ranked 22nd in the NSCAA Division II preseason poll and is ranked fifth in the NSCAA East region poll released Tuesday...the Golden Lions went undefeated (4-0-1) over its first five games...Dowling saw its unbeaten streak come to and end following a 1-0 loss to Bridgeport, but rebounded with three-straight wins over Holy Family (4-1), St. Thomas Aquinas (7-2) and Chestnut Hill (2-0)...Dowling dropped to 3-2-0 in the ECC following a 1-0 loss to Mercy on Oct. 9, and is coming off a 3-2 win over Pace last weekend...the Golden Lions own impressive ECC wins over New York Tech (4-0) and LIU Post (1-0)...Dowling ranks third in the ECC in goal differential (+16), having scored 24 and allowed just 8...junior Lindsey Thompson (8 gls, 3 asts) and freshman Christina Cottone (5 gls, 2 asts) have paced the offense...Thompson, a two-time ECC Offensive Player of the Week selection, had two goals and one assist in the win over STAC and also netted two goals in the win over Chestnut Hill...Cottone scored twice in the win over NYIT...senior defender Dominique DeFelice, who was named ECC Co-Defensive Player of the Year last fall, has headed up a defense that has registered five shutouts...junior Melissa Guglielmo (0.56 GAA, 3 SO) has started all 11 games in net and made a season-high nine saves in a 1-0 win over Merrimack...she recorded five saves in the 1-0 win over LIU Post...she is a two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection and ranks first among the ECC leaders in GAA.

THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (12-1-0; 5-0-0 ECC): Bridgeport was picked second in the ECC preseason poll...the Purple Knights return 12 players from last year's team that posted an 11-6-2 record (6-2-0 ECC)...Bridgeport made five-straight appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament from 2007 to 2011...Bridgeport is ranked third in the East and 16th nationally in the NSCAA Division II polls released Tuesday...the Purple Knights opened the season with a 1-0 loss to nationally-ranked American International, before running off 12-straight wins...UB owns ECC wins over St. Thomas Aquinas (5-2), Dowling (1-0), Mercy (2-1), Molloy (2-0) and LIU Post (2-1)...the Purple Knights posted a 2-0 non-league win over Philadelphia Tuesday and play at Roberts Wesleyan Friday...Bridgeport ranks second in the ECC in goal differential (+18), having scored 26 and allowed just 8...junior Danielle Puddefoot, who totaled a team-high 11 goals and 25 points last year, scored both goals in the win over Molloy and has totaled a team-high 19 points (8 gls. 3 asts)...additional production has come from sophomores Flo Gamby (4 gls, 2 asts) and Gabby Reis (2 gls, 4 asts) and freshman Tabe Rauschenberger (3 gls, 4 asts)...senior Julia Hansson (0.62 GAA, 7 SO) has started all 13 games in net and made a season-high 10 saves in the season-opening loss to AIC...she made four saves in the 2-1 win over LIU Post...she ranks second among the ECC leaders in GAA and first in shutouts.

HONOR ROLL: Samantha Engel and Meghan Lipinoga were both named to the weekly ECC honor roll after leading the Wildcats to two non-league wins over Rochester and Cleary this past weekend...Engel had seven points (3 gls, 1 ast) and netted two goals in the win over Cleary...Lipinoga headed up a defense that allowed just four shots on goal and one goal over the two games...she also netted her second goal of the year in the win over Cleary.

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 37-2-1 since the start of the 2010 season when it scores two or more goals...the Wildcats are 12-0-0 in the last 12 games in which they have scored two or more goals...Daemen has played eight overtime games since the start of the 2010 season and is 5-2-1 in those contests...Kacey Bougard leads the ECC in points (25) and goals (10) and is tied for second in assists (5)...Kathryn Haessner ranks first among the ECC leaders in total saves (78) and third in save percentage (.830)...Samantha Engel has played in all 70 games (67 starts) since the start of the 2010 season and has totaled 93 career points (32 gls, 29 asts)...freshmen Kelly DuVall (Addison, N.Y./Addison) and Caitlyn Grover (Canandaigua, N.Y./Marcus Whitman) both netted their first career goals in recent games...DuVall scored in the 4-1 win over STAC, while Grover scored in the 5-0 win over SUNY Canton.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Wednesday (Oct. 23) when they travel to Alfred University for a non-league match...game time is 7 p.m.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College women's soccer on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics or @DCWomensSoccer) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics or www.facebook.com/daemencollegewomenssoccer) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.