THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team hits the road this weekend for East Coast Conference games at Queens College (Oct. 17) and Molloy College (Oct. 19)…the Wildcats enter the weekend having won three of their last four games.

Friday, Oct. 17
Daemen at Queens - 3 p.m.
LIVE STATS

Sunday, Oct. 19
Daemen at Molloy - 1:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS


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…Carl Christian is in his fourth season as head coach at Queens and entered the 2014 season with a 23-19-11 (.538) career record...he also serves as the women's soccer coach at Queens...Danny Longo is in his eighth season as head coach at Molloy and enters the 2014 season with a 48-62-12 (.443) career record...he also serves as the women's soccer coach at Molloy.

MOVE TO II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Three of the NCAA Division II membership process. Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and began playing full regular-season conference schedules last 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 Three.

THE SERIES vs. QUEENS: Friday's game will mark just the second meeting between Daemen and Queens…the Knights posted a 5-2 victory over the Wildcats last year in Amherst, N.Y…Queens held a 3-2 lead late in the second half and secured the win with two goals in the final 4:29…Glen Reid led the Knights with a goal and three assists…Alex Reid and Kyle Clifford scored for Daemen.

THE SERIES vs. MOLLOY: Sunday's game will mark just the second meeting between Daemen and Molloy…the Lions posted a 4-1 victory over the Wildcats last year in Amherst, N.Y…Molloy held a 2-1 lead at halftime, and the Lions opened up a 3-1 lead after Mario Gagliano scored his second goal of the game with 21:42 left to play…Alex Reid scored for Daemen.

THE WILDCATS (5-5-0; 2-3-0 ECC): Daemen returns 11 players and several starters from last year's team that posted a 4-13-1 record (0-9-1 ECC)…the Wildcats were picked 11th in the ECC preseason poll…senior goalkeeper Matt Daddario returns for his fourth year as the team's primary net-minder, while sophomore Alex Reid returns up front after ranking second on the team in goals (7) and points (17) as a rookie…Daemen rallied for a 2-1 victory at Saint Rose in its 2014 season opener, but went 1-4 over its next five games…the Wildcats have won three of their last four outings and recorded their first-ever ECC win following a 2-1 (2 OT) victory over St. Thomas Aquinas two weeks ago…Cole Beale scored 2:56 into the second overtime to seal the historic win…the Wildcats made it two-straight ECC wins following a 2-1 (2 OT) victory over rival Roberts Wesleyan this past Saturday…Reid scored the game winner with 4:26 left in the second OT…the Wildcats have already recorded the most wins in a season since 2010…Beale scored twice in a 3-1 win over Gannon and has netted five of Daemen's 12 goals thus far…additional offense has come from Caleb Holmes (2 gls, 2 asts) and Reid (2 gls, 2 asts)…Daddario has played every minute in net and owns a 1.73 GAA…he made a season-high 10 saves in the win over Gannon and made six saves in the win over RWC last weekend.

THE KNIGHTS (3-7-0; 1-5-0 ECC): Queens was picked sixth in the ECC preseason poll...the Knights posted a 9-5-3 overall record and a 4-4-2 mark in the ECC last year…junior midfielder Glen Reid returns after totaling a team-high 20 points and collecting first-team All-ECC honors last fall…Queens went winless (0-5-0) over its first five games, but has won three of its last five…the Knights suffered a 2-1 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas last weekend and is coming off a 3-2 (OT) non-league win over Bloomsburg this past Tuesday…Altor Gurruchaga scored the game-winner just 4:26 into overtime…junior Pol Narbona scored twice in the win over Bloomsburg and has scored six of QC's 13 goals thus far…additional offense has come from sophomore Nicholas Matusewicz (4 asts) and Reid (2 gls)…sophomore James Brostowski has started eight of QC's 10 games in net owns a 1.53 GAA...he made a season-high seven saves in a 2-1 (2 OT) win over Saint Anselm.

THE LIONS (3-7-1; 2-3-0 ECC): Molloy was picked ninth in the ECC preseason poll...the Lions posted a 5-9-3 overall record and a 3-4-3 mark in the ECC last year...the Lions went winless over their first five games (0-4-1), before posting back-to-back wins over LIU Post (5-4) and Queens (1-0)…MC is 1-3-0 over its last four games and is coming off back-to-back losses to Holy Family (1-0) and New York Tech (2-0)…senior Hamza Elotmani scored twice in the upset win over LIU Post and has scored three of Molloy's nine goals thus far…additional offense has come from senior Joey Pinto (2 gls, 1 ast) and junior Lester Franco (1 gl, 1 ast)...senior Justin Corke has started all 11 games in net and owns a 1.96 GAA with one shutout…he made a season-high eight saves in the win over LIU Post.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until next weekend (Oct. 25) when they travel to the University of the District of Columbia for an ECC game. Click HERE to view Daemen's complete 2014 schedule.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College men's soccer on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics or @DaemenSoccer) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.