THE LEAD: The Daemen College women'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. 24 (at Old Westbury, N.Y.)
Daemen at New York Tech, 12 p.m.
DC ROSTER / NYIT ROSTER / LIVE STATS
Sunday, Oct. 25 (at Brookville, N.Y.)
Daemen at LIU Post, 12 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 seventh season as head women's soccer coach at Daemen…the 2011 American Mideast Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year, Dolan entered the 2015 season with a career record of 60-51-3 (.539)…Dolan guided the Wildcats 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 (5-8-1; 2-3-0 ECC): Daemen returns 11 players from last year's team that finished 6-14-1 overall and 0-8-1 in the East Coast Conference…the Wildcats advanced to the championship game of the USCAA Tournament for the third-straight year, but a 2-0 loss to top-seeded Maine-Fort Kent denied Daemen the USCAA national championship…Daemen was voted 10th in the 2015 ECC preseason poll…sophomore forwards Alex Juliano and Stephanie Zurales return up front, while sophomore Alexis Ruggiero returns in the midfield after earning honorable mention All-ECC honors as a rookie last year…senior Meghan Lipinoga and sophomore Rose Carboni will anchor the backline…Daemen has won its last two games and is 5-4-0 over its last nine games…the Wildcats have already posted more league wins this season than in the previous two seasons combined…the Wildcats turned in a solid effort against regionally-ranked Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 2, before suffering a 2-1 loss in double OT…Daemen opened ECC play with a 2-0 loss to Mercy and a 2-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas, and also split its two league games against Queens and Molloy…the Wildcats posted a 1-0 loss to Queens and defeated Molloy 1-0 (OT)…DC is playing its first game since posting a 6-0 non-league win over Alfred State on Oct. 13…Lipinoga scored the "golden goal" in the win over Molloy…Juliano netted a "hat trick" in the win over Alfred State, while Zurales did the same in a 6-0 win over Washington Adventist…Zurales also had a goal and two assists in the win over Alfred State and ranks fifth among all ECC players in total points (6 gls, 5 asts, 17 pts)…junior Alexis Koral scored both goals in the 2-0 win over STAC and has totaled eight points (3 gls, 2 ast)…freshman Meaghan O'Leary (1.74 GAA, 3 SHO) has started all 14 games in net and is a one-time ECC Freshman of the Week selection…she stopped seven shots in the 1-0 win over Molloy and made five saves in the 2-0 win over STAC.
THE BEARS (5-7-1; 0-5-0 ECC): New York Tech was picked ninth in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Bears posted a 4-10-3 overall record and a 1-6-2 mark in the ECC last year…NYIT opened the 2015 season with three-straight wins, but is just 2-7-1 over its last 10 games…the Bears snapped a two-game losing streak following a 7-0 win over Lincoln on Oct. 11, but is coming off back-to-back losses to Caldwell (2-0) and nationally-ranked Bridgeport (3-0) last week…sophomore Dina Simonian (3 gls, 3 asts), freshman Caitlin Appel (4 gls, 0 asts), sophomore Taylor Casey (3 gls, 1 ast) and junior Alexis Panariello (3 gls, 0 asts) have paced a balanced offense…senior Brianna Bollettieri (1.97 GAA, 3 SHO) has started all 13 games in net and made 11 saves in the loss to Bridgeport last week.
THE PIONEERS (10-2-2; 2-1-2 ECC): LIU Post was picked first in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Pioneers posted a 15-3-1 overall record (8-0-1 ECC record) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament last fall…senior forward Susanne Vistnes returns after totaling a league-high 19 goals and 49 points last year…she has collected ECC Offensive Player of the Year and NSCAA All-America honors each of the past three seasons and enters the weekend with a school-record 65 career goals and a school-record 162 career points…the Pioneers are receiving votes in the NSCAA Division II national poll and are ranked fourth in the NSCAA East Region poll...the Pioneers host Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Sunday…LIUP is 8-1-2 over its last 11 games…Vistnes scored four times in a recent 8-0 win over Nyack and has totaled a team-high 32 points (13 gls, 6 asts)...additional production has come from junior Julia Backman (6 gls, 1 ast), freshman Andrea Huntzinger (4 gls, 2 asts) and sophomore Alex Lynn (4 gls, 1 ast)…junior goalkeeper Felicia Orderud (0.73 GAA, 2 SHO) has been elected ECC Defensive Player of the Week each of the last two weeks…she made four saves in a recent 1-1 (2OT) tie with Dowling.
THE HISTORY: Friday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and New York Tech…Daemen won the first-ever meeting in 2012, but NYIT has prevailed in the last two meetings…NYIT posted a 2-0 victory last year in Amherst…Christina Viaggio and Fran Glenny scored for the Bears…Sunday's game will mark the third meeting between Daemen and LIU-Post…the Pioneers prevailed in the first-ever meeting in 2013 and also posted a 5-0 victory last year in Amherst…Susanne Vistnes led the way with two goals and one assist.
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 women's soccer on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics / @DaemenWSOC) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
