THE MATCHUPS: It will be a historic weekend for the Daemen College women's soccer, as the Wildcats host Queens College and Molloy College in their first-ever East Coast Conference games...Daemen and Queens will square off Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Wildcats will host Molloy Sunday at 11 a.m...both games take place at Dimp Wagner Stadium in Amherst...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 47-28-2 (.623)...he guided Daemen to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship last fall...Carl Christian is in his sixth season as head coach at Queens and entered the 2013 season with a 52-29-8 (.629) career record...he also serves as the men's soccer coach at Queens...Danny Longo is in his sixth season as head coach at Molloy and entered the 2013 season with a 34-47-5 (.424) career record...he also serves as the men's soccer coach at Molloy.
THE SERIES vs. QUEENS: Saturday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Queens.
THE SERIES vs. MOLLOY: Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Molloy.
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 (3-1-0; 0-0-0 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...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 seven of its last nine 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 are coming off a 1-0 victory over Davis & Elkins last weekend...Engel was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and USCAA Player of the Week after totaling a goal and an assist in the wins over A-B and UMFK...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 also netted the lone goal in the win over D&E...redshirt freshman
Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) has started all four 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.
HONOR ROLL: Haessner was named the USCAA Defensive Player of the Week after going 1-1 between the pipes last week. The win over Davis & Elkins was her third win and second shutout of the season. Additionally, Bougard was named to the weekly ECC honor roll after netting the lone goal in Daemen's 1-0 win over Davis & Elkins.
THE KNIGHTS (3-2-0; 0-0-0 ECC): Saturday's game also marks the ECC opener for Queens...the Knights were picked fourth in the ECC preseason poll...the Knights return 13 players and two all-conference performers from last year's team that posted a 10-4-4 record and appeared in the semifinals of the ECC Tournament...Queens opened the year with back-to-back wins over Pace (1-0) and Post (1-0) during the Mercy College Tournament, before suffering a 2-1 loss to Adelphi...the Knights rebounded with a 1-0 victory over Georgia Court last weekend and are coming off a 2-1 loss at Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday...senior midfielder Lorena Russi and senior back Lisa Cassata top the list of returning players...Russi led the team in goals (7), assists (4) and points (18) last year and earned second-team All-ECC honors...Cassata, another second-team all-league selection, headed up a defense that allowed just 18 goals and recorded seven shutouts last year...Russi scored the game-winner against Georgia Court and also scored against Adelphi...junior Mersina Onesto (0.80 GAA, 3 SO) has played every minute in goal thus far and made a season-high six saves in the loss to Adelphi.
THE LIONS (0-4-0; 0-0-0 ECC): Molloy was picked fifth in the ECC preseason poll...the Lions return 14 players and seven starters from last year's team that posted a 4-10-1 record...the Lions open ECC play Friday night at Roberts Wesleyan...Molloy opened the year with back-to-back losses to Merrimack (5-1) and Bentley (4-0) at the Merrimack Tournament, before suffering a 2-1 loss to Southern Connecticut on Sept. 11...the Lions are coming off a tough 1-0 loss to Holy Family in their home-opener this past Tuesday...Holy Family scored with just 3:53 left in regulation time to secure the win...sophomore midfielder Alicia Mercurio is coming off a solid rookie season in which she was a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and led the team in scoring (4 gls, 3 asts)...she netted MC's lone goal in the season-opening loss to Merrimack...junior goaltender Nicole DellaPorta returns between the pipes after starting 11 games and posting a 1.95 GAA last year...she has played every minute in net this season (3.00 GAA) and is averaging five saves a game...she made five saves in the loss to SCSU.
DID YOU KNOW?: Dating back to last season, Daemen is 11-2-0 over its last 13 games and has outscored its opponents 32-8 over that span...the Wildcats have shutout eight of their last 13 opponents.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they travel to ECC rival Roberts Wesleyan College for a 1 p.m. game...Daemen's next home game is set for Tuesday, Oct. 1 when it hosts SUNY Canton in a non-league match...game time is 5:30 p.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.
