Box Score  

AMHERST, N.Y. - Sophomore back Emily Ward (Leonardsville, N.Y./Mount Markham Central) could not have picked a more opportune time to record her first career goal as she jumped up into the offensive play and capitalized on a rebound opportunity, sending a high liner to the back of the net to deliver a dramatic 2-1 victory for the Daemen College women's soccer team in their 2014 season opener today at Dimp Wagner Stadium against the University or Rio Grande.

Senior co-captain Rachael Banasik (Depew, N.Y./Depew) created the chance as she broke free up the left side after taking a long feed from junior Meghan Lipinoga (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Canisius College).  Banasik's initial shot attempt was turned away by Rio Grande goalkeeper Allison Keeney but the rebound caromed right to Ward who was streaking into the right side of the box.  Ward neatly struck the "golden goal" into the upper right corner of the goal in the 102nd minute of the contest.

Ward's heroics were needed after Rio Grande's Kasey Crow erased a 1-0 Daemen lead with her first tally of the season in the 60th minute.  That marker came just moments after a yellow card was issued to a member of the Red Storm coaching staff which seemed to inspire their team.

Daemen's Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone), playing in her first collegiate soccer game after completing a brilliant four-year career on the hardwood last winter, had put the Wildcats on the board in the first half.  She took a feed from redshirt freshman midfielder Chrissy Reville (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) and broke up the right side where she launched a low, hard shot past Keeney and inside the far post in the 17th minute.

The Wildcats dominated possession, especially in the early going.  All-in-all, Daemen put eight of its 18 shots on frame while the Red Storm mustered only three total shots in the contest, placing two on net.  Daemen also held the edge in corner kick opportunities (7-1), three of which came in the opening nine minutes of the game.

"I thought we definitely controlled the game in the first half and we had some nice one-touch plays," said Daemen head coach Dan Dolan, now in his sixth season at the helm.  "We also had four or five chances on our corner kicks, but we just couldn't seem to find the net.  Much of that, I think, has to do with the many new players on the field trying to get used to one another.  In the second half, I though we got out of our style of play and we panicked a little after they scored.  It took until the first couple minutes of the second overtime period for us to finally settle down and pick out players with some nice passes which ultimately helped us finish the game off."

Sophomore goalkeeper Kathryn Haessner (Moravia, N.Y./Moravia) picked up the win between the pipes for Daemen, needing to make just one save to do secure her seventh career victory.  Keeney turned away six shots but took the loss for the Red Storm.

With the victory today, Daemen moved to 6-0 in season-openers under Dolan.  The last season-opener that needed extra time to be decided was the Wildcats' 1-0 victory over San Diego Christian College on Aug. 25, 2010.  The Wildcats last dropped a season-opener in 2008, falling 3-1 to Edinboro University.

The loss dropped Rio Grande to 1-1 on the young season.  The Red Storm, a Division II member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), competes in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC).

Ward's game-winner snapped the Wildcats' two-game slide in overtime games.  Dolan's squad suffered gut-wrenching overtime defeats twice last season, and had last won in "golden goal" fashion when they knocked off the University of Maine-Fort Kent 1-0 in the 2012 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship Game.  The last time the Wildcats won in double overtime came in 2011 when they pulled off the feat twice - vs. Point Park University (Oct. 8, 2011) and Roberts Wesleyan College (Oct. 25, 2011) - en route to the regular season championship in the team's final year as a member of the now-defunct American Mideast Conference.

Krow's goal snapped Daemen's streak of not allowing a goal at home to a non-conference opponent which, at the time of the goal today, had reached over 400 minutes.  The Wildcats notched shutouts in all four of their non-conference home games in 2013 and last allowed a goal to a non-league foe on Oct. 21, 2012 in a 3-1 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas College.  Ironically, St. Thomas Aquinas is the East Coast Conference team that Daemen defeated last year upon joining the league for the program's first-ever ECC victory (4-1 on Oct. 5, 2013).

Today's game was delayed approximately 30 minutes from its original 1 p.m. start time after a strong thunderstorm which produced several vibrant bolts of lightning rolled through the area in the noon hour.  That gave way to sunny skies while both teams felt the effects of the hot and humid temperatures on the field.

Daemen is back in action at home this Sunday, Sept. 7 when they renew their rivalry with Maine-Fort Kent at 11 a.m.  The Wildcats and Lady Bengals have met six times in the past two seasons, including in the last two USCAA title games.  A full game preview is available at wildcats.daemen.edu and you can follow Daemen Athletics on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest news surrounding the Daemen women's soccer team all season long.