THE MATCHUP: The Daemen College men's soccer team closes out its home schedule Saturday when it hosts the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) in an ECC match...game time is 1 p.m. at Dimp Wagner Stadium...live stats can be accessed HERE.

SENIOR SALUTE: Saturday's game will mark the final home game in the careers of seniors Jared Contreas (Arcadia, Calif./Arcadia), Sean Hellingman (Kamloops, B.C./Westsyde), Trevor Hill (Courtice, Ont./Holy Trinity Catholic), Zakariah Hall (Wells, England/The Blue School), Devin Kinney (Hinsdale, N.Y./Hinsdale Central), Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis), Josh Radecki (South Wales, N.Y./Holland Central) and Daniel Romer (Amsterdam, Netherlands/Plattsburgh State)...all eight will be honored during a pre-game ceremony at midfield.

THE COACHES: Mark Spacone is in his third season as head coach at Daemen...he brings a wealth of knowledge to the position with 16 prior years of experience at nearly every level of the game, including collegiate, high school, club and Olympic Development...Matt Thompson is in his third season as head coach at UDC...he previously served as head coach at Lees McRae College (2010) and Slippery Rock University (2002-09) and entered the 2013 season with a career coaching record o 112-87-20 (.557)...he led LMC to a NCAA berth in his one season with the Bobcats and posted an 85-68-11 (.552) record in his eight seasons at SRU...a three-time PSAC Coach of the Year selection, he led SRU to three NCAA Tournament appearances.

THE SERIES vs. UDC: Saturday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and UDC.

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: Daemen returns 15 players and five starters from last year's team that posted a 4-9-0 record...the Wildcats were picked 11th in the ECC preseason poll...the Wildcats opened the 2013 season with a 3-2 (2 OT) win at conference rival Roberts Wesleyan on Sept. 5 and went 2-2 over the first four games...Daemen is 2-9-0 over its last 11 games and is coming off league losses to Dowling (2-0) and Bridgeport (1-0 2OT) last weekend...additional ECC losses have come against Queens (5-2), Molloy (4-1), Roberts Wesleyan (2-1 OT), New York Tech (7-0) and top-ranked LIU Post (9-1)...senior Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) and freshman Alex Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) have paced the offense...Clifford scored twice in the season-opening win over Roberts Wesleyan and netted both goals in a 2-1 OT win over Buffalo State...he scored all three goals in a 3-1 win over Cleary and has totaled a team-high 20 points (9 gls, 2 ast)...Reid (5 gls, 3 asts) scored the OT "golden goal" in the season-opening win over Roberts Wesleyan and assisted on the OT game-winner against Buffalo State...he also netted both goals in a 2-0 win over Pitt-Johnstown on Sept. 29...senior defender Jared Contreras (Arcadia, Calf./Arcadia) is the only player to start all 15 games and has started 59 of a possible 60 games during his career...junior Matt Daddario (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) has started 14 games between the pipes...he made two saves against Pitt-Johnstown en route to his first career shutout...he recorded a season-high 11 saves in a 3-0 loss to nationally-ranked Brockport...he owns a 3.05 GAA with one shutout.

THE FIREBIRDS: UDC was picked 10th in the ECC preseason poll...the Firebirds return 11 players from last year's squad that finished 6-9-2 overall (2-6-1 ECC)...UDC opened the year with four-straight non-league wins, before opening ECC play with back-to-back losses to St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0) and New York Tech (2-1)...the Firebirds also suffered league losses to Dowling (3-1) and Queens (4-3), and own ECC wins over Molloy (5-2) and Roberts Wesleyan (2-1)...UDC's balanced attack features 11 players with at least one goal...senior Bakary Coulibaly (7 gls, 1 ast) and freshman Felix Angerer (6 gls, 3 asts) have led the way, while additional support has come from freshman Nenad Smiljanic (4 gls, 1 ast) and sophomore Elio Hernandez (3 gls, 2 asts)...sophomore Louis Connor (1.41 GAA, 1 SO) has started all 12 games in net...he made six saves in the 1-0 loss to STAC.

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen has two players with at least five goals for just the second time in the past seven seasons...Kyle Clifford ranks second among the ECC leaders in goals (9) and points (20) and third in shots (47)...he scored his 25th career goal during the loss to Queens on Sept. 21 and has totaled 66 points (29 gls, 8 asts) in 55 career games...Matt Daddario leads the ECC in total saves (68).

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats close out the 2013 season next weekend with conference road games at Mercy (Nov. 1) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Nov. 3)...both games start at 2:30 p.m.

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