THE MATCHUPS: Daemen College will play two games this weekend, as they head down the New York State Thruway to take on longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan and then return to Amherst to host Pitt-Johnstown...Daemen and RWC will square off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on the RWC campus...live stats and video can be accessed HERE...the Wildcats will host Pitt-Johnstown Sunday at 1 p.m. at Dimp Wagner Stadium in Amherst...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 Fish is in his  ninth season as head coach at RWC and entered the 2013 season with an 87-66-16 (.562) career record...he is a three-time American Mideast Conference Coach of the Year (2006, 2009, 2011) and led the Redhawks to the NAIA Tournament in 2011...Eric Kinsey is in his 14th season as head coach at Pitt-Johnstown.

THE SERIES vs. ROBERTS WESLEYAN: Daemen and RWC are former American Mideast Conference rivals, and both are currently transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II...Daemen snapped a six-game losing streak to their Western New York rivals earlier this year when the Wildcats posted a 3-2 (2OT) victory in the season-opener for both teams...senior Kyle Clifford scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner for Daemen...freshman Alex Reid netted the "golden goal" 3:22 into the second overtime...Johnny Lobene and Brandon Bianchi scored for RWC...Matt Daddario made six saves for DC, while Florian Witte stopped four shots for the Redhawks...RWC posted a 1-0 victory over the Wildcats last year in Rochester...Stephen Stewart scored the lone goal of the game in the 23rd minute.

THE SERIES vs. PITT-JOHNSTOWN: Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Pitt-Johnstown.

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 (2-5-0, 0-2-0 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 51 of a possible 52 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 last weekend with losses to Queens (5-2) and Molloy (4-1)...Clifford scored both goals against Buffalo State and has totaled a team-high five goals and 11 points...Reid (3 gls, 1 ast) assisted on the OT game-winner against Buffalo State...Daddario (3.21 GAA) has started six games and made four saves in the win over Buffalo State...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 REDHAWKS (0-5-1; 0-2-0 ECC): RWC was picked eighth in the ECC preseason poll...the Redhawks return several key players from last year's squad that won nine of its final 12 games, posted a 12-9-1 record and advanced to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) tournament...topping the list of returning players is junior forward Michael Cunningham and sophomore midfielder Brandon Bianchi...Cunningham totaled a team-high nine goals and 23 points last year, while Bianchi registered seven goals and a team-high six assists...the Redhawks opened the season with a 3-2 (2OT) loss to Daemen, before battling Nyack to a scoreless overtime tie...RWC then suffered road losses to Buffalo State (2-1) and Le Moyne (2-0), before opening ECC play last weekend with home setbacks to Molloy (1-0) and Queens (3-1)...Talwo Aderounmu, Johnny Lobebe, Colton Orbaker and Brandon Bianchi have accounted for RWC's four goals thus far...senior Stephen Buscaglia (1.48 GAA, 1 SO) has started four of the six games in net...he made six saves in the double OT tie with Nyack.

THE MOUNTAIN CATS (2-5-0; 0-3-0 PSAC): Pitt-Johnstown is in its first year as a member of the NCAA Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)...the Mountain Cats were members of the now defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) last year...Pitt-Johnstown was picked 12th in the PSAC preseason poll...the Mountain Cats return 11 players from last year's team that posted a 1-14-1 record...Pitt-Johnstown opened the year with a 2-0 loss to Georgian Court, before opening PSAC play with back-to-back losses to Lock Haven (6-0) and Bloomsburg (1-0)...the Mountain Cats registered their first win of the season, and snapped a 10-game winless streak (0-9-1) dating back to last season, following a 3-1 win over Aldersson-Broaddus on Sept. 18...the Mountain Cats followed up with a 1-0 victory over Chowan (N.C.), before dropping to 0-3-0 in the PSAC following a 3-0 loss to Cal. Pa...Pitt-Johnstown is coming off a wild 4-3 loss at Goldey-Beacom this past Thursday...the teams combined for four goals in the final 9:31 of the second half...Pitt-Johnstown took a 3-2 lead   when sophomore Colin Michalski netted his second goal of the game with 7:58 left to play, but GBC tied the game just 1:27 later...the hosts netted the game-winner with just 2:29 remaining...Michalski (4 gls, 1 ast) has led the offense thus far...he totaled a goal and an assist in the win over A-B and also netted the lone goal in the win over Chowan...sophomore Tim Ofman (2.43 GAA, 1 SO) has started all seven games in net and made three saves to earn the shutout against Chowan.

DID YOU KNOW?: Dating back to last season, Daemen is 3-0-0 in its last three overtime games...the Wildcats defeated Roberts Wesleyan (3-2, 2 OT) and Buffalo State (2-1, 1 OT) this season and Ohio Midwestern (2-1, 1 OT) on Oct. 6 of last year...the last time the Wildcats lost an overtime affair was against Brockport on Oct. 2 of last year at Dimp Wagner Stadium.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they head to Long Island, N.Y. for ECC games against New York Tech (Oct. 4) and LIU Post (Oct. 6)...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.