THE MATCHUP: Daemen College hosts cross-town rival Buffalo State College in a non-conference men's soccer matchup...game time is 4 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...Mark Howlett is in his first season as head coach at Buffalo State...he spent the previous three seasons as head coach at SUNY Canton and also spent time as an assistant coach at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y...Howlett played two seasons at Roberts Wesleyan College before transferring to Judson (Ill.) University.

THE SERIES: Daemen and Buffalo State have faced each other in each of the last six seasons...Buffalo State has prevailed in four of the last six meetings...Daemen had lost four-straight against the Bengals before posting a 2-1 victory last year at Buffalo State...Josh Radecki broke a 1-1 tie in the 73rd minute...Matt Daddairo made one save for Daemen, while Ian Huntoon entered the game in 12th minute for BSC and finished with six saves.

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 several starters from last year's team that posted a 4-9-0 record...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 48 of a possible 49 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 College on Sept. 5...Clifford totaled two goals and an assist, while feshman Alex Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) netted the "golden goal" 3:22 into the second overtime...Daemen is coming off back-to-back losses to Le Moyne (3-0) and Maine-Fort Kent (6-0) last weekend...Daddario has played every minute in net thus far and made six saves in the win over RWC.

THE BENGALS: Buffalo State is a member of the NCAA Division III State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC)...the Bengals return eight starters and 10 players from last year's team that posted a 1-16-1 record...BSC opened the 2013 season with a 2-1 (OT) win over Pitt-Greensburg on Aug. 30 at the Frostburg State Tournament...the win snapped a 13-game winless streak (0-12-1) dating back to last season...the Bengals then played Grove City to a scoreless tie the next day...the Bengals suffered losses to Houghton (1-0) and Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) (3-0) at the Fredonia State Tournament last weekend...BSC is coming off a 2-1 victory over Roberts Wesleyan College Wednesday...senior C.J. Scirto, who totaled a team-high 11 points (4 gls, 3 asts) last year, scored in the season-opener against Pitt-Greensburg and assisted on the game-winner against RWC...senior Anthony Appiani scored the overtime game-winner against Pitt-Greensburg...freshman Francesco Cardillo netted the game-winner with 24:08 left to play against RWC...junior Ian Huntoon and freshmen Robby Kuhnie and Michael Moraitis have shared the goaltending duties thus far...Huntoon, who started 12 games last year, went the distance against RWC and made six saves.

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen head coach Mark Spacone is a 1989 graduate of Buffalo State and played soccer for the Bengals in 1986 and 1987...the Bengals roster features three former Daemen players - senior midfielder Erik Tellgren, junior midfielder Christian Warchocki and junior midfielder Stephen Linderman.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats will face another SUNYAC opponent Tuesday (Sept. 17) when they travel to The College at Brockport...game time is 4:30 p.m (note time change from originally scheduled time of 7 p.m.)...Daemen will then open up ECC play next weekend when it hosts Queens College (Sept. 21 at 3:30 p.m.) and Molloy College (Sept. 22 at 1:30 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.