THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's soccer team concludes a stretch of five-straight road games Saturday (Sept. 27) when it travels to Mercyhurst University for a non-league game…game time is 1 p.m. on the Mercyhurst campus in Erie, Pa.
Saturday, Sept. 27
Daemen at Mercyhurst, 1 p.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 56-42-2 (.570). 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. Keith Cammidge is in his 13th season as head coach at Mercyhurst...he entered the 2014 season with a career record of 140-78-17 (.632) and has led the Lakers to three (2006, 2007, 2008) NCAA Tournament appearances.
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: Saturday's game will mark the just the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Mercyhurst…the only previous meeting came during the 2007 season when Mercyhurst posted a 2-0 victory over the Wildcats in Amherst, N.Y.
THE WILDCATS (2-5-0; 0-2-0 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…the Wildcats surrendered just 36 goals last fall and limited 11 of their 20 opponents to one goal or less…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) are all expected to make an immediate impact…click HERE for a complete season preview…the Wildcats opened the 2014 season with wins over Rio Grande (2-1 OT) and Maine-Fort Kent (2-0), but are winless in their last five games…the Wildcats are coming off losses to Dowling (2-0) and nationally-ranked Bridgeport (3-0) last weekend…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…Haessner has gone the distance in goal in all seven games (1.38 GAA) and made a season-high seven saves in the loss to Bridgeport.
THE LAKERS (2-4-1; 2-4-1 PSAC): Mercyhurst is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, a 15-member NCAA Division II conference…the Lakers were ranked 12th the PSAC preseason poll…MU posted a 9-9-1 overall record and an 8-7-1 mark in the PSAC last fall…junior forward Lauren Testa returns after totaling a team-high 16 points (7 gls, 2 asts) and earning third team All-PSAC honors last year…the Lakers went unbeaten (2-0-1) over their first three games, but bring a four-game losing streak into Saturday's game…MU is coming off a 4-2 loss to cross-town rival Gannon on Wednesday…Testa scored two goals in a 2-0 win over Lock Haven and has netted a team-high four goals…additional offense has come from senior Janine Wong (3 gls, 1 ast) and junior Kristina Roberti (3 gls, 1 ast)…junior Ellie McDougall has started all six games in net and owns a 1.48 GAA and two shutouts…she made nine saves in a season-opening 2-0 win over Mansfield.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 41-3-1 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 next weekend when they host Mercy College (Oct. 3) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Oct. 5) in East Coast Conference action. 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.
