THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's soccer team opens the 2014 season with home games against the University of Rio Grande and the University of Maine-Fort Kent this weekend.
THE SCHEDULE: Daemen opens the season by hosting Rio Grande Friday (Sept. 5) at 1 p.m. The Wildcats return to the pitch Sunday (Sept. 7) for an 11 a.m. contest against UMFK. Both games take place at Dimp Wagner Stadium on the campus of Amherst High School.
Friday, Sept. 5 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Rio Grande vs. Daemen, 1 p.m. / LIVE STATS
Sunday, Sept. 7 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Maine-Fort Kent vs. Daemen, 11 a.m. / LIVE STATS
THE COACH: 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 54-37-2 (.591). 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.
NCAA DIVISION 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 WILDCATS: 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 RED STORM: Rio Grande is located in Rio Grande, Ohio…the Red Storm joined the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference—a NAIA Division II conference—this year after previously being affiliated with the Mid-South Conference…the Red Storm are ranked third in the KIAC preseason poll…Rio Grande returns the top three scorers and the top goalkeeper from last year's team that posted a 10-8-0 overall record and a 4-5-0 mark in the Mid-South Conference…head coach Callum Morris enters his fourth season with the Red Storm…junior Kasey Crow and sophomore Carrie Mathes top the list of returning players…Crow led the team in goals (10) and points (22) last year and collected second team all-conference honors…Mathes ranked second in goals (8) and points (19) as a freshman…senior Allison Keeney returns between the pipes after starting all 18 games last year and posting a 2.72 GAA with seven shutouts…the Red Storm opened the 2014 season with a 1-0 victory over Milligan College this past Monday…junior Courtney Young netted the lone goal of the game, while Keeney made four saves en route to the shutout.
THE BENGALS: UMFK is the defending USCAA national champion and has advanced to the USCAA Tournament championship game each of the past four seasons…the Bengals also claimed the title in 2010 and 2011…UMFK returns the top four scorers and a total of 12 players (eight starters) from last year's team that finished 16-1-1 overall…head coach Lucas Levesque enters his 11th season at UMFK and must overcome the loss of USCAA All-American goalkeeper Kimika Forbes, who posted a 0.42 GAA with eight shutouts last fall…forwards Katherine Ferland and Ariane Laberge-Pelletier accounted for 42 of the team's 68 goals last year and both earned first team USCAA All-America honors…Ferland netted 28 goals last year and has scored 62 goals in just 33 games over the past two seasons…Laberge-Pelletier totaled 14 goals and 34 points last fall…sophomore forward Marie Montagne (7 gls, 7 asts) and junior midfielder Kayla Richards (6 gls, 5 asts) also return up front…the Bengals opened the 2014 season with wins over NCAA Division III Gordon College (4-0) and Worcester Poly Tech (4-3) last weekend…with the two wins last weekend UMFK is now unbeaten in its last 17 games (16-0-1) dating back to a 2-0 loss to Daemen at Dimp Wagner Stadium last year…Ferland totaled two goals and an assist in the win over Gordon and played a role in all four goals (3 gls, 1 ast) in the win over WPI…newcomer Michelle Delgadillo went the distance in goal in both games…she made four saves to earn the shutout against Gordon and made 11 saves against WPI.
THE HISTORY: Daemen and Rio Grande squared off during the 2011 and 2012 seasons…the Wildcats posted a 3-1 victory in 2011 at Dimp Wagner Stadium…Rio Grande answered with a 1-0 victory during the 2012 Redhawk Classic at Roberts Wesleyan…Daemen and UMFK have quickly developed a heated rivalry…the teams have met six times over the past two seasons and UMFK owns a 4-2 advantage in the series…five of the six games have been decided by just one goal, and three have gone into overtime…the teams have squared off in the USCAA Tournament national championship game each of the past two seasons…DC claimed the 2012 title with a 1-0 victory in overtime, while UMFK answered with a 3-2 OT triumph last fall.
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen is 11-4-0 against USCAA opponents over the past two seasons, with all four losses coming against UMFK…Maine-Fort Kent is 50-2-2 since the start of the 2011 season…both of the losses have come against Daemen…the Wildcats defeated the Bengals (1-0 OT) in the 2012 USCAA Tournament championship game and Daemen handed UMFK its only loss of the 2013 season (2-0) on Sept. 7 at Dimp Wagner Stadium…Daemen snapped UMFK's 33-game (32-0-1) unbeaten streak in the 2012 USCAA title game…Daemen is 40-3-1 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 UMFK in last year's USCAA Tournament championship game.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Tuesday (Sept. 9) when they host Le Moyne College in a non-league contest…game time is 7:30 p.m. at Dimp Wagner Stadium.
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.
