THE MATCHUP: The Daemen College women's soccer team hosts Le Moyne College in a non-league match Tuesday (Sept. 9) at 7:30 p.m…the game will take place at Dimp Wagner Stadium on the campus of Amherst High School.
Tuesday, Sept. 9 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Le Moyne vs. Daemen, 7:30 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 56-37-2 (.600). 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…Tracey Leipold enters her sixth season at Le Moyne and entered the 2014 season with a 29-46-12 (.374) record with the Dolphins…she previously served as an assistant coach at Division I Coastal Carolina and as head coach at Division II Lees McRae.
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 (2-0-0; 0-0-0 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) this past weekend at Dimp Wagner Stadium…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 went the distance in goal in both games…she made five saves in the shutout win over UMFK.
THE DOLPHINS (1-2-0, 0-0-0 NE-10): Le Moyne is located in Syracuse, N.Y. and is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference, a 15-member NCAA Division II conference…the Dolphins are ranked 13th the NE-10 preseason poll…Le Moyne returns the top five scorers from last year's team that posted a 5-10-2 overall record and a 3-9-2 mark in the NE-10…sophomore forward Rachel Terry is coming off a solid rookie season in which she led the team in scoring (9 gls, 2 asts) and earned second-tram all-conference honors…junior forward Kelly Ristoff (5 gls, 1 ast) and senior midfielder Lindsey Bakal (2 gls, 4 asts) also return…junior goalkeeper Tori Corsaro returns between the pipes after starting eight games last year and posting a 1.52 GAA with one shutout…the Dolphins opened the 2014 season this past weekend with non-league losses to Roberts Wesleyan (3-2) and Felician (4-3)…Le Moyne rebounded with a 3-0 non-league win over Shepherd College this afternoon…Terry scored two goals in the loss to Felician and has totaled seven points (3 gls, 1 ast)…Ristoff netted a "hat trick" in the win over Shepherd and has already equaled her goal total (5) for last season…Corsaro has started all three games in net and made one save in the shutout win over Shepherd.
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 return to action this weekend when they head to Ohio to face Lake Erie College (Sept. 12) and Walsh University (Sept. 14). It is the start of five-straight road games for Daemen, which does not return to Dimp Wagner Stadium until Oct. 3rd. 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.
