THE MATCHUP: Daemen College travels to rival Roberts Wesleyan College for an East Coast Conference women's soccer matchup...game time is 1 p.m...live stats and video 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 47-30-2 (.607)...he guided Daemen to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship last fall...Bobby McColl is in his first season as head coach at Roberts Wesleyan.
THE SERIES: Daemen and RWC are former American Mideast Conference rivals, and both are currently transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II...Daemen has earned bragging rights between the two rivals in recent years, going 3-1-2 over the last six meetings...the Wildcats posted a 1-0 victory over the Redhawks last year in Rochester...
Alexa Amato scored the lone goal just 2:16 into the contest and
Kayla Hampton stopped nine shots to earn the shutout...Breanna Maggio made six saves for RWC...the teams met three times during the 2011 season...Daemen posted two regular-season wins (1-0, 4-3 2OT), before the Redhawks posted a 2-1 victory in the semifinals of the AMC Tournament.
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 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 was ranked first in the USCAA national poll that was released on Friday, Sept. 20 (a new poll comes out this Friday afternoon)...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 11 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 Edinbobo...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) 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 each of the wins over A-B and UMFK...she also scored the DC goals in the losses to Queens and Molloy last weekend and has totaled 10 points (4 gls, 2 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 also netted the lone goal in the win over D&E and has totaled a team-high 11 points (4 gls, 3 asts)...Amato has missed the last four games due to injury...redshirt freshman
Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) has started all six 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 1.21 GAA with two shutouts.
THE REDHAWKS: Roberts Wesleyan was picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll...the Redhawks return the top four scorers and a total of 17 players from last year's team that posted a 10-8-1 record (4-4-0 ECC)...RWC is ranked sixth in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) poll...RWC opened the year with wins over Le Moyne (3-0) and Bloomfield (4-1), before suffering a 4-0 loss to third-ranked Saint Rose...the Redhawks rebounded with a 4-0 win over Davis & Elkins, before suffering a 3-1 setback to Cedarville...RWC opened conference play last weekend with wins over Molloy (4-0) and Queens (1-0)...the Redhawks have scored 17 goals over the first seven games...senior forward Brittany Foster collected second-team All-ECC honors last year after totaling a team-high 10 goals and 30 points...she netted two goals in the win over D&E and has totaled nine points (4 gls, 1 ast)...freshman midfielder Bella Mitrevski has scored a goal in four of the six games she has played in and has totaled a team-high 15 points (5 gls, 5 asts)...additional production has come from sophomores Ellie Swan (3 gls, 2 asts) and Brittany Houghton (3 gls, 2 asts)...junior goalkeeper Marissa Sell (1.14 GAA, 4 SO) was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after posting back-to-back shutouts against Molloy and Queens last weekend...she has played every minute in goal thus far and made a season-high 11 saves in the win over Molloy.
DID YOU KNOW?: Dating back to last season, Daemen is 11-4-0 over its last 15 games and has outscored its opponents 34-14 over that span...the Wildcats have shutout eight of their last 15 opponents.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Tuesday, Oct. 1 when they host SUNY Canton in a non-league match....game time is 7:30 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.
