THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's soccer team hits the road this weekend for East Coast Conference games at Queens College (Oct. 17) and Molloy College (Oct. 19)…it marks the final two conference road games for Daemen, which closes out the regular season with three-straight home games.
Friday, Oct. 17
Daemen at Queens - 12 p.m.
LIVE STATS
Sunday, Oct. 19
Daemen at Molloy - 11 a.m.
LIVE STATS
THE COACHES: Dan Dolan enters his sixth season as head coach at Daemen. The 2011 American Mideast Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year, Dolan has led the Wildcats to four consecutive non-losing seasons and owns a career record of 57-46-3 (.552). He guided Daemen to the 2012 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship and a runner-up showing at the USCAA Championship Tournament last year. Carl Christian is in his seventh season as head coach at Queens and entered the 2014 season with a 63-35-9 (.631) career record...he also serves as the men's soccer coach at Queens...Danny Longo is in his seventh season as head coach at Molloy and entered the 2014 season with a 37-60-6 (.388) career record...he also serves as the men'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 3-1 victory over Daemen last year in Amherst, N.Y…Queens scored twice in the first 8:40 of the game and secured the win with a goal with just 3:44 left to play in the game…Rebecca LaPorte, Lorena Russi and Kristina Gabrielsen scored for Molloy, while Samantha Engel scored for Daemen.
THE SERIES vs. MOLLOY: Sunday's game will mark just the second meeting between Daemen and Molloy…the Lions posted a 3-1 victory over Daemen last year in Amherst, N.Y…Molloy took a 2-1 lead just 3:30 into the second half and secured the win following a goal by Danielle Valente in the 89th minute…Samantha Engel scored for Daemen.
THE WILDCATS (3-9-1; 0-4-1 ECC): Daemen returns 14 players (8 starters) from last year's team that finished 10-10-0 overall and 1-8-0 in the competitive East Coast Conference…the Wildcats advanced to the championship game of the USCAA Tournament for the second-straight year, but a 3-2 OT loss to top-seeded Maine-Fort Kent denied Daemen its second-straight USCAA national championship…Daemen was voted ninth in the ECC preseason poll…graduation took its toll up front, with the loss of forwards Kacey Bougard (13 gls, 7 asts) and Samantha Engel (11 gls, 8 asts) who both collected first team USCAA All-America honors…USCAA All-American defenders Meghan Diehl and Meghan Lipinoga return, as does three-year starter Rachael Banasik…goaltender Kathryn Haessner, who started 13 games and posted a 1.56 GAA with two shutouts last year, also returns to the fold…newcomers Rose Carboni (back), Alex Juliano (forward), Alexis Ruggiero (midfield) and Stephanie Zurales (forward) have all made an immediate impact…the Wildcats opened the 2014 season with wins over Rio Grande (2-1 OT) and Maine-Fort Kent (2-0), before suffering through a seven-game losing streak…Daemen suffered a 2-0 loss to nationally-ranked Mercy College on Oct. 3, before snapping the losing skid following a 1-1 (2 OT) tie with St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 5…Daemen rallied for a 3-2 non-league win over Medaille College and dropped a 2-0 decision to Roberts Wesleyan last week…the Wildcats are coming off a 2-1 non-league loss to Mansfield this past Tuesday…Lindsay Stoddard and Emily Ward scored their first career goals in the win over Rio Grande, while Carboni and Juliano did the same in the win over UMFK…Stoddard and Banasik scored in 3-2 loss to Mercyhurst, while sophomore Cassidy Kozub netted DC's lone goal in the tie with STAC and netted the game-winner in the win over Medaille…Haessner started the first 11 games (1.56 GAA) in goal…she established a season-high for saves (9) in the loss to Mercy and equaled the mark in the tie with STAC…Juli Prentice went the distance in the loss to Mansfield and stopped seven shots.
THE KNIGHTS (2-7-2; 0-4-1 ECC: Queens was picked sixth in the ECC preseason poll...the Knights posted an 11-6-1 overall record and a 6-3-0 mark in the ECC last fall…All-ECC goalkeeper Mersina Onesto returns after posting a 0.82 GAA and nine shutouts last year…Queens went 2-2-2 over its first six games, but is winless in its last five games (0-5-0)…the five-game losing skid includes losses to Molloy (1-0), Bridgeport (1-0), LIU-Post (2-0), St. Thomas Aquinas (1-0) and Merrimack (3-0)…the Knights have scored just three goals in 11 games thus far…Erin Vernillo scored in a 1-0 win over Pace and Nicolette Scrozzo scored in a 1-0 win over Philadelphia...Onesto (1.14 GAA, 3 SO) has played every minute in goal thus far and made a season-high nine saves in an early-season 0-0 (2 OT) tie with Felician…she stopped eight shots in the recent 2-0 loss to LIU Post.
THE LIONS (2-7-1; 2-3-0 ECC): Molloy was picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll...the Lions posted a 3-13-1 overall record and a 3-5-1 mark in the ECC last year…the Lions went winless (0-5-1) over their first six games this year, and are 2-2-0 over their last four…the Lions snapped a two-game losing streak following a 1-0 win over New York Tech last weekend…Molloy hosts Roberts Wesleyan Friday (Oct. 17) before facing Daemen Sunday...the Lions have scored just five goals in 10 games thus far…sophomore midfielder Danielle Valente scored MC's lone goal in a recent 1-0 win over Queens, while sophomore Gabrielle Batista scored in the 1-0 win over NYIT…senior Nicole DellaPorta (0.71 GAA, 1 SO) and freshman Paige Salmon (2.30 GAA) have shared the goaltending duties…DellaPorta went the distance in the 1-0 win over Queens and stopped three shots.
DID YOU KNOW?: DC's recent 3-2 loss at Mercyhurst marked just the fourth time since the start of the 2010 season that the Wildcats have lost a game when scoring two or more goals…Daemen is 42-4-1 since the start of the 2010 season when it scores two or more goals…the Wildcats had won 15-straight games in which they scored two or more goals before suffering a 3-2 OT loss to Maine-Fort Kent in last year's USCAA Tournament championship game.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until Oct. 29 when they host Alfred University in a non-conference game. Click HERE to view Daemen's complete 2014 schedule..
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College women's soccer on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics or www.facebook.com/daemencollegewomenssoccer) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
