THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team travels to rival Roberts Wesleyan College for an East Coast Conference game Friday (Oct. 2).
Friday, Oct. 2 (at Rochester, N.Y.)
Daemen at Roberts Wesleyan, 7:30 p.m.
DC ROSTER / RWC ROSTER / LIVE STATS / VIDEO
DIVISION II DEBUT: Daemen successfully completed a three-year membership process and was approved for active membership status at the NCAA Division II level by the NCAA Membership Committee his past summer…Daemen was accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) in July of 2012 and began playing full regular-season conference schedules in the fall of 2013…the 2015-16 academic year will mark the first year Daemen will be eligible for ECC and NCAA post-season play.
THE COACH: Dan Dolan enters his first season as head men's soccer coach at Daemen…a familiar face to Daemen athletics, Dolan has served as head women's soccer coach at Daemen for the past six seasons…he will continue as head coach of the women's soccer program…the 2011 American Mideast Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year, Dolan guided the Daemen women to the 2012 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship and a runner-up showing at the USCAA Championship Tournament in 2013 and 2014.
THE WILDCATS (2-6-0; 0-2-0 ECC): Daemen returns 14 players from last year's team that finished 5-10-0 overall and 2-8-0 in the East Coast Conference…Daemen was voted 11th in the 2015 ECC preseason poll…first-year head coach Dan Dolan returns the top two scorers from last year, but has a huge hole to fill at goaltender following the graduation of four-year starter Matt Daddario…junior Cole Beale is back after notching a team-high five goals and 11 points last year…the Wildcats opened the 2015 season with a 2-0 loss at Slippery Rock, before posting a 3-2 (2OT) win over Pitt.-Johnstown…Daemen snapped a three-game losing streak following a 1-0 win at D'Youville College last week and opened ECC play this past weekend with losses to Mercy (3-1) and St. Thomas Aquinas (3-2)…nine different players have scored a goal so far this season…freshman Kyle Tracy scored his first two career goals in a 3-2 loss to Stonehill and also scored in the loss to STAC…senior Frank Poppolo scored the game-winner against D'Youville, while junior Michael Gandt scored the "golden goal" off a feed from red-shirt freshman Jeremy Nand in the win over UPJ…Nand has totaled a team-high four assists…junior Alex Reid scored his 10th career goal during a 3-2 loss to Gannon and has totaled five points (2 gls, 1 ast)…freshman Justin Figler (2.19 GAA) has gone the distance in net in all eight games and made a season-high six saves in the season-opening loss to Slippery Rock…he stopped two shots against D'Youville en route to his first career shutout.
THE REDHAWKS (4-3-1; 2-1-0 ECC): RWC was picked seventh in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Redhawks posted an 11-7-3 overall record last year and a 5-5-0 mark in the ECC…head coach Scott Reber must overcome the graduation of high-scoring forward Michael Cunningham who totaled a team-high 33 points (12 gls, 9 asts) and collected All-ECC honors last fall…the Redhawks have won three of their last four games and are coming off a 7-0 non-league victory over Alfred State last night…RWC opened ECC play with a 4-3 win over District of Columbia on Sept. 19…the Redhawks moved to 2-1-0 in the league after defeating St. Thomas Aquinas (2-1) and losing to Mercy (3-2) last weekend…senior Garth Brungard (6 gls, 3 asts), junior Malcolm Shaw (5 gls, 2 asts) and sophomore Logan Wood (3 gls, 4 asts) have paced the offense…Brungard totaled two goals and an assist in the win over Alfred State, while Shaw scored the game-winner with just 1:18 left in regulation in the win over STAC last weekend…sophomore John Clavaglia (1.89 GAA) and senior Michael Scavone (1.48 GAA, 1 SHO) have shared the goaltending duties thus far.
THE HISTORY: Daemen and RWC are former American Mideast Conference rivals…the last three meetings have been decided in OT, with Daemen winning two of the three games…the Wildcats posted a 2-1 (2OT) win over the Redhawks last year at Dimp Wagner Stadium…Caleb Holmes gave DC a 1-0 lead just 2:03 into the second half and RWC forced OT following a goal by Michael Cunningham with just 4:46 left in regulation time…Alex Reid scored the "golden goal" with 4:26 left in the second OT…the teams met twice during the 2013 season, with both games taking place at Roberts Wesleyan…Daemen snapped a six-game losing streak to their Western New York rivals following a 3-2 (2 OT) win in the 2013 season-opener for both teams…Kyle Clifford scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner for Daemen, while Alex Reid netted the "golden goal" 3:22 into the second overtime...Johnny Lobene and Brandon Bianchi scored for RWC...RWC answered with a 2-1 (OT) win three weeks later…Alex Harling scored the game-winner just 4:06 into the first overtime…Caleb Holmes scored for Daemen.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they host Queens College (Oct. 10) and Molloy College (Oct. 11) in ECC games…click HERE for the complete 2015 schedule.
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College athletics on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics / @DaemenMSOC) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
