THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College men's soccer team heads to Long Island, N.Y. for two East Coast Conference games this weekend...the Wildcats will face New York Tech Friday at 4 p.m...live stats are available HERE; live streaming video is available HERE...Daemen concludes the trip at nationally-ranked LIU Post Sunday at 2:30 p.m...live stats can be accessed HERE.

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...Carlos DelCid is in his 13th year as head coach at New York Tech and entered the 2013 season with a 130-68-27 (.638) career record...he has led the Bears to four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances (2003, 2005, 2007, 2011) and one NCAA Regional (2005) championship...Andreas Lindberg is in his fifth season as head coach at LIU Post...he previously served as head coach at LIU Southampton and entered the 2013 season with an 84-31-2 (.726) career record...he entered the season ranked sixth among active Division II coaches in career winning percentage...he has guided the Pioneers to two-straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and was named the 2011 and 2012 ECC Coach of the Year.

THE SERIES vs. NEW YORK TECH: Daemen and New York Tech met for the first time ever last season and the Bears posted a 3-0 victory on Sept. 26 at NYIT...the Bears scored two goals just 45 seconds apart early in the game to take control...NYIT finished with a 26-8 advantage in shots...Vinny Caccavale (9:10), Herve Valcourt (9:55) and Matt DiDonna (58:08) scored for the Bears...Matt Daddario made nine saves for the Wildcats.

THE SERIES vs. LIU POST: Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and LIU Post.

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 (3-6-0, 0-3-0 ECC): 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 will lean heavily on seven seniors who have been in the program since they were freshmen...the group includes defenders Jared Contreas (Arcadia, Calif./Arcadia) and Sean Hellingman (Kamloops, B.C./Westsyde), midfielders Trevor Hill (Courtice, Ont./Holy Trinity Catholic), Zakariah Hall (Wells, England/The Blue School) and Devin Kinney (Hinsdale, N.Y./Hinsdale Central) and strikers Kyle Clifford (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Francis) and Josh Radecki (South Wales, N.Y./Holland Central)...Contreras has started 53 of a possible 54 games during his career and last season was named the team's Most Valuable Player...Clifford is looking to regain the form he showed in 2011 when he bagged 16 goals and 34 points...junior Matt Daddario (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) returns between the pipes after starting 10 games last fall and posting a 1.86 GAA...the Wildcats opened the 2013 season with a 3-2 (2 OT) win at conference rival Roberts Wesleyan on Sept. 5...Clifford totaled two goals and an assist, while freshman Alex Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) netted the "golden goal" 3:22 into the second overtime...Daemen snapped a two-game slide following a 2-1 OT win over cross-town rival Buffalo State on Sept. 14, before suffering a 3-0 loss at nationally-ranked Brockport State...the Wildcats opened conference play two weeks ago with losses to Queens (5-2) and Molloy (4-1), and dropped to 0-3-0 in the league following a 2-1 OT loss at Roberts Wesleyan last Saturday...the Wildcats snapped their four-game slide with a 2-0 victory over Pitt-Johnstown last Sunday...Clifford and Reid have paced the offense...Clifford scored both goals against Buffalo State and has totaled 11 points (5 gls, 1 ast)...Reid (5 gls, 1 ast) assisted on the OT game-winner against Buffalo State and netted both goals in the win over Pitt-Johnstown...Daddario (2.66 GAA) has started eight games and made two saves against Pitt-Johnstown en route to his first career shutout...he recorded a season-high 11 saves in the loss to Brockport...junior Daniel Romer went the distance in the loss to Molloy and made three saves.

THE BEARS (6-2-0; 1-2-0 ECC): New York Tech was picked third in the ECC preseason poll...the Bears return 17 players from last year's squad that finished 9-7-3 overall (5-2-2 ECC)...senior forward Matthew DiDonna, senior midfielder Vinny Caccavale and senior back Javier Gallardo collected All-ECC honors last year and Caccavale also earned NSCAA All-America honors...DiDonna totaled a team-high 11 goals and 26 points last year, while Caccavale led the team in assists (6) and totaled 18 points...the Bears opened the season with three-straight wins over Bentley (1-0), Bloomsburg (2-1) and American International (4-0), before opening ECC play with a 3-0 loss to Mercy...NYIT rebounded with two-straight wins over District of Columbia (2-1) and Lock Haven (4-1), before falling to second-ranked LIU Post (3-2 OT) last weekend...the Bears are coming off a 9-1 rout of Goldey-Beacom this past Monday...sophomore Alberto Ruiz has scored a goal in five of the eight games and has totaled a team-high 11 points (5 gls, 1 ast)...DiDonna registered two goals and two assists against Goldey-Beacom and has also totaled 11 points (4 gls, 3 asts)...additional production has come from newcomers Jaime Gomez Bardon (4 gls, 1 ast) and Ben Wilson (4 gls)...junior Liam Waddy  (1.21 GAA, 2 SO) has started all eight games in net...he made two saves in the OT loss to LIU-Post last weekend.

THE PIONEERS (8-0-0; 2-0-0 ECC): LIU Post is the defending ECC Tournament champion and was picked first in the ECC preseason poll...the Pioneers return 19 players overall and six all-conference performers from last year's team that posted an 18-2-0 record (8-1-0 ECC) and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second-straight year..LIU Post was  ranked eighth in the NSCAA preseason Division II poll and is currently ranked second nationally...senior forward Cemil Turan, senior back Eirik Bjoernoe and senior goaltender Marco Jorgensen top the list of the returning players...Turan collected ECC Player of the Year and NSCAA All-America honors last year after totaling 15 goals and 34 points...Bjoernoe also earned All-America honors, while Jorgensen was named ECC Goaltender of the Year after posting a 0.99 GAA with four shutouts....sophomore back Per Forgaard also returns after earning ECC Rookie of the Year last year...the Pioneers have outscored their opponents 22-8 thus far en route to a perfect 8-0-0 record (2-0-0 ECC)...three of the eight wins have come against teams that appear in the NSCAA regional rankings this week (Wilmington, Millersville and NYIT)...the Pioneers posted a thrilling 3-2 OT win over NYIT last weekend...freshman Johann Kristjansson tied the game at 2-2 with 4:03 left in regulation and Bjoernoe netted the game-winner just 31 seconds into overtime...junior Eivind Austboe has scored a goal in all eight games and leads the ECC in goals (10), assists (6) and points (26)...additional offense has come from Kristjansson (4 gls, 1 ast) and Turan (2 gls, 3 asts)...Jorgensen (0.99, 2 SO) has played every minute in net and made a season-high nine saves in a 3-1 win over Wilmington.

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen has scored 11 goals this season, which equals the total number of goals the Wildcats scored all last season...Daemen has two players with at least five goals for just the second time in the past seven seasons...Alex Reid ranks third among all ECC players and first among ECC freshmen in goals scored (5)...Kyle Clifford also ranks third among the ECC leaders in goals (5) and scored his 25th career goal during the loss to Queens.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they head to Michigan to face Rochester College (Oct. 12) and Cleary University (Oct. 13)...Daemen's next home game is Friday, Oct. 18 when it hosts Dowling College in an ECC match...game time is 1 p.m. at Dimp Wagner Stadium.

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.