Daemen vs. New York Tech
Friday, October 4, 2013
President's Stadium, Old Westbury, N.Y.
Daemen vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Spartan Field, Sparkill, N.Y.
Daemen vs. LIU Post
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Robert Blitz Field, Brookville, N.Y.
THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College women's soccer team heads to the New York City area for three East Coast Conference games this weekend...the Wildcats will face New York Tech Friday at 1 p.m...live stats are available HERE; live streaming video is available HERE...Daemen plays at St. Thomas Aquinas Saturday at 12:30 p.m...live stats can be accessed HERE...the Wildcats conclude the trip at LIU Post Sunday at 12 p.m...live stats can be accessed HERE.
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 48-31-2 (.605)...he guided Daemen to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship last fall...Michael Caputo is in his second season as head coach at New York Tech...Graham Brown is in his second season as head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas...he also serves as head men's soccer coach at STAC...Mark Dawson is in his sixth year as head coach at LIU Post...he previously spent seven seasons as head coach at LIU Southampton and entered the 2013 season with a career coaching record of 147-69-16 (.668)...he has posted a 67-19-10 (.750) record in his previous five seasons at LIU Post and has guided the Pioneers to three (2008, 2010, 2012) NCAA Division II Tournament appearances...he is a three-time recipient (2008, 2010, 2012) of the ECC Coach of the Year award.
THE SERIES vs. NEW YORK TECH: Daemen and New York Tech met for the first time ever last year at NYIT...the Wildcats rallied from a 2-0 deficit and posted a 3-2 victory over the Bears...Alexa Amato registered her first career "hat trick" to lead Daemen...her second goal at 60:36 tied the game at 2-2 and she scored just five seconds later to cap the scoring...Rachel Reichart went the distance in net for the Wildcats and stopped six shots.
THE SERIES vs. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Daemen and STAC also met for the first time ever last year...the Spartans built a 2-0 lead and went on to a 3-1 victory at Dimp Wagner Stadium...Mae Comeford scored STAC's first two goals, before Daemen made things interesting with a goal by Alexa Amato with just 3:57 to play...the Spartans secured the win when Becky Torres scored with just 30 seconds remaining...Daemen posted a 17-7 advantage in shots...Rachel Reichart made two saves for the Wildcats, while Amanda Volpe stopped seven shots for STAC.
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 (4-4-0; 0-3-0 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 third in the USCAA national poll released Sept. 27...a solid 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)--returns intact...the unit has shutout eight of its last 13 opponents dating back to the end of last season...offensive firepower returns in the form of seniors Alexa Amato (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) and Samantha Engel (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden)...Amato collected team Most Valuable Player honors and first team USCAA All-America honors last fall after leading the team in goals (10) and points (22)...Engel entered the year with 75 career points (25 gls, 25 asts) and garnered second team USCAA All-America honors last season...Daemen opened the year with home wins over Aldersson-Broaddus (4-0) and Maine-Fort Kent (2-0), before suffering a 1-0 loss at Edinboro...the loss snapped Daemen's seven-game winning streak dating back to the end of last season...the Wildcats rebounded with a 1-0 victory over Davis & Elkins, before opening conference play with losses to Queens (3-1) and Molloy (3-1)...Daemen suffered its third-straight loss and dropped to 0-3-0 in the ECC following a 4-0 setback at rival Roberts Wesleyan last weekend...the Wildcats snapped the slide with a 5-0 victory over SUNY Canton this past Tuesday...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 wins over A-B and UMFK...she also scored the DC goals in the losses to Queens and Molloy and has totaled 11 points (4 gls, 3 asts) overall...redshirt senior Kacey Bougard (East Aurora, N.Y./Sacred Heart) made the most of her first game action since 2010 with a "hat trick" and an assist in the season-opening win over A-B...she registered her second "hat trick" of the season in the win over SUNY Canton and has totaled a conference-best seven goals and 17 points...Amato has missed the last six games due to injury...redshirt freshman Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) has started all eight games in net and made a career-high 11 saves in the loss to Edinboro...she made nine saves in the win over UMFK...that effort earned her ECC Co-Rookie of the Week honors...she owns a 1.53 GAA with two shutouts.
THE BEARS (3-5-1; 0-3-0 ECC): New York Tech was picked eighth in the ECC preseason poll...the Bears return 11 players from last year's team that posted a 6-10-1 record (2-5-1 ECC)...NYIT went 1-4-1 over its first six games, but is 2-1-0 in its last three...the Bears remained winless in the ECC following a 3-0 loss at LIU Post last weekend and are coming off a 1-0 2OT win over Caldwell on Tuesday...freshman midfielder Sia Dagrizlkos registered a "hat trick" in an early-season 3-1 win over Holy Family, while sophomore Wendy Avendano netted the overtime game-winner against Caldwell...freshman Victoria Barclay (1.63 GAA, 2 SO) has started six games in net and made eight saves in the win over Caldwell.
THE SPARTANS (0-6-0; 0-3-0 ECC): St. Thomas Aquinas was picked ninth in the ECC preseason poll...the Spartans return 16 players from last year's team that posted a 5-9-2 record (0-6-2 ECC)...STAC opened the year with non-league losses to Walsh (4-0) and Malone (4-0), before opening league play with a 5-2 loss to Bridgeport...the Spartans dropped to 0-4-0 following a 2-1 loss to Bloomfield, and have dropped league games to Mercy (4-0) and Dowling (7-2) the past two weekends...Nisha Flinn (1 gl, 2 asts) and Mae Comerford (1 gl, 1 ast) have paced the offense...sophomore Lauren Morales (4.50 GAA) has started four games between the pipes and made a season-high 13 saves in the loss to Mercy.
THE PIONEERS (5-2-0; 1-1-0 ECC): LIU Post is the defending ECC regular-season champion and was picked first in the 2013 ECC preseason poll...the Pioneers return 18 players and five all-conference performers from last year's team that posted a 15-3-2 record (7-0-1 ECC) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament...LIU Post is ranked sixth in the latest NSCAA East Region poll...the Pioneers split their first four games and enter the weekend riding a three-game winning streak...they posted a 2-0 non-league win over Philadelphia on Sept. 25 and evened their ECC record at 1-1-0 following a 3-0 victory over NYIT last weekend...the Pioneers host Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Sunday...sophomore Susanne Vistnes is coming off an outstanding rookie season in which she totaled a league-high 19 goals and 47 points and was named ECC Player and Rookie of the Year and third-team NSCAA All-America...Vistnes has scored a goal in each of the last three games and has totaled a team-high 12 points (5 gls, 2 asts)...additional production has come from sophomore Hanna Westerling (3 gls), freshman Julia Backman (2 gls, 1 ast) and senior Jeanine Ambrogi (2 gls, 1 ast)...sophomore Katelyn Phillips (0.62 GAA, 3 SO) has started all seven games in net and made a season-high eight saves in an early-season 2-0 loss to nationally-ranked American International.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 34-2-1 since the start of the 2010 season when it scores two or more goals...the Wildcats are 9-0-0 in the last nine games in which they have scored two or more goals...Daemen has played seven overtime games since the start of the 2010 season and is 5-1-1 in those contests.
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 11 a.m. at Dimp Wagner Stadium.
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College Women's Soccer on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics or @DCWomensSoccer) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics orwww.facebook.com/daemencollegewomenssoccer) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
