THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team travels to Long Island, N.Y. this weekend to take on New York Institute of Technology (Oct. 23) and LIU Post (Oct. 25) in East Coast Conference action.
Friday, Oct. 23 (at Old Westbury, N.Y.)
Daemen at New York Tech, 2:30 p.m.
DC ROSTER / NYIT ROSTER / LIVE STATS
Sunday, Oct. 25 (at Brookville, N.Y.)
Daemen at LIU Post, 2:30 p.m.
DC ROSTER / LIUP ROSTER / LIVE STATS
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 (2-9-1; 0-5-1 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 are looking to snap a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) and are coming off a 2-0 loss to District of Columbia last weekend…eight 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 twice in an OT tie with Roberts Wesleyan…he has totaled a team-high 10 points (5 gls, 0 asts)…senior Frank Poppolo scored the game-winner in a recent 1-0 win over D'Youville, while junior Michael Gandt scored the "golden goal" off a feed from red-shirt freshman Jeremy Nand in a 3-2 (2OT) win over Pitt.-Johnstown…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 seven points (3 gls, 1 ast)…freshman Justin Figler (2.34 GAA, 1 SHO) has gone the distance in net in all 12 games and made a season-high nine saves in the loss to Queens…he stopped seven shots in the OT tie with RWC.
THE BEARS (8-4-1; 4-2-0 ECC): New York Tech was picked second in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Bears posted a 14-3-1 record (8-1-1 ECC), claimed the ECC Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second-straight year last fall…senior back Gonzalo Barroso returns after earning ECC Defensive Player of the Year honors last fall…the Bears got off to a slow start in 2015 (2-4-1 over their first seven games), but bring a six-game winning streak into the weekend…NYIT is coming off a 3-2 win over Bridgeport last weekend…freshman Philip Atbashyan (4 gls, 1 ast), sophomores Krishen Patel (4 gls, 1 ast) and Ion Barbarin (3 gls, 2 asts) and junior Ben Wilson (2 gls, 4 asts) have paced the offense… Atbashyan scored the game-winner last weekend against Bridgeport…sophomore Jonathan Rico (1.52 GAA) started the first seven games in net and made five saves in a 3-3 (2 OT) tie with West Chester…senior Alvaro Cruz (1.16 GAA, 1 SHO) has started the last six games and made five saves in a recent 4-0 win over District of Columbia.
THE PIONEERS (9-1-2; 6-0-0 ECC): LIU-Post was picked first in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Pioneers posted an 16-5-2 overall record (8-1-1 ECC) and claimed the NCAA Division II Tournament East Region title last year…the Pioneers have averaged 17 wins over the last four years and have made four-straight appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament…senior midfielder Per Forward and sophomore forward Jason Lampkin top the list of returning players…Forgaard is a three-time All-ECC selection and earned NSCAA All-America honors last year after totaling 25 points (8 gls, 9 asts)…Lampkin was named ECC Rookie of the Year last fall…the Pioneers are ranked 10th in the NSCAA Division II national poll and second in the NSCAA East Region poll…LIUP brings a nine-game unbeaten streak (8-0-1) into this weekend's action…LIUP hosts Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Sunday…the Pioneers are coming off a 6-1 victory over Mercy last weekend…Forgaard scored twice in the win over Mercy and has totaled a team-high 17 points (6 gls, 5 asts)…Lampkin had a "hat trick" in an early-season win over Southern Connecticut and has totaled 16 points (6 gls, 4 asts)…additional offense has come from junior forward Johann Kristjansson (3 gls, 3 asts)…junior Jesper Malmstrom (0.78 GAA, 3 SHO) has started 11 games in net and made a season-high 10 saves in a 2-1 win over District of Columbia.
THE HISTORY: Friday's match will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and New York Tech…the Bears have prevailed in each of the previous three meetings…NYIT escaped with a 1-0 victory last year at Dimp Wagner Stadium…Javier Gallardo scored with just 2:16 left in regulation time for the Bears…NYIT posted a 7-0 victory over Daemen two years ago on Long Island…the teams met for the first time ever during the 2012 season and the Bears posted a 3-0 victory at NYIT…Sunday's match will mark the third all-time meeting between Daemen and LIU Post…the teams met for the first time ever during the 2013 season and the Pioneers posted a 9-1 victory over the Wildcats on Long Island…LIUP posted a 5-0 victory last year at Dimp Wagner Stadium…Elvind Austboe scored two first-half goals to lead the way.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats close out the regular-season next weekend when they host Dowling College (Oct. 30) and the University of Bridgeport (Nov. 1) in ECC games.
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.
