THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team completes its 2015 season by hosting Dowling College and University of Bridgeport in a pair of East Coast Conference games this weekend.
Friday, Oct. 30 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Daemen vs. Dowling, 3 p.m.
DAEMEN ROSTER / DOWLING ROSTER / LIVE STATS / GAME PROGRAM
Sunday, Nov. 1 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Daemen vs. Bridgeport, 1:30 p.m.
DAEMEN ROSTER / BRIDGEPORT ROSTER / LIVE STATS / GAME PROGRAM
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 (2-11-1; 0-7-1 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 an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1) and are coming off a pair of ECC road losses at NYIT (2-0) and LIU Post (8-2) 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 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 five 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 (2.71 GAA, 1 SHO) has gone the distance in net in all 14 games and made a season-high 12 saves in the loss to NYIT last week…he stopped seven shots in the OT tie with RWC and ranks third among all ECC players with 68 saves this season.
THE GOLDEN LIONS (5-8-1; 4-4-0 ECC): Dowling was picked third in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Golden Lions posted a 10-6-2 overall record, and a 7-3-0 ECC mark to earn the No. 3 seed to the ECC Tournament last season...head coach John DiRico is in his 24th year leading the Dowling program...in that time, he's achieved a career record of 285-123-52 and he led the Golden Lions to the 2006 NCAA Division II national championship...the Golden Lions welcome back 13 players from their 2014 roster, and they have welcomed 16 newcomers to the fold, including 11 freshmen...the young DC squad opened the season with four-straight losses before getting back on track with back-to-back league wins over Saint Thomas Aquinas (2-1) and NYIT (3-1)...the Golden Lions are 3-3-1 this month and have won two-straight games heading into this weekend's action...DC defeated ECC foe District of Columbia (2-0) last Saturday before picking up a non-league win over Concordia (N.Y.) (2-0) earlier this week...junior forward Sean Collins, a European transplant, has led a balanced DC offense this season (4 gls, 1 ast, 9 pts)...additional offensive production has come from senior forward Mike Gronenthal (3 gls, 6 pts) and newcomer Carlos Iparraguirre (2 gls, 1 ast, 5 pts)...senior Chris Friedl and freshman Scott Flores have split time between the pipes...both have made 29 saves while Friedl has posted a .784 save percentage and a 0.97 goals against average.
THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (9-5-0; 5-3-0 ECC): Bridgeport was tied for fourth in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Purple Knights went 5-9-1 overall and 4-5-1 in the league last season...head coach Brian Quinn is in his 16th season leading the Purple Knights program...in his tenure, Quinn has guided UB to a 156-121-23 record...UB enters this weekend's action ranked No. 10 in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division II East Region poll...the Purple Knights return 18 players from their 2014 roster, including honorable-mention All-ECC selection Luka Ivanovic...Bridgeport opened the season with seven wins in their first eight outings, including ECC wins over Mercy (1-0), Queens (1-0) and District of Columbia (1-0)...the Purple Knights are just 2-4 this month...they snapped a four-game slide by defeating Saint Thomas Aquinas 2-0 on Oct. 21...UB is coming off a 5-1 league win at Molloy last Saturday...in a scheduling quirk, UB has played just three games away from home heading into this weekend's games (UB plays at Roberts Wesleyan on Friday before coming to Daemen Sunday)...Ivanovic has been the offensive catalyst for UB this season, totaling 16 points (7 gls, 2 asts) to rank ninth among all ECC players...Femi Coker has chipped in with eight points (3 gls, 2 asts) as well...in goal, returner Fabio Junior and newcomer Daniel Coviella have split time...Junior has posted a 4-1-0 record and an .839 save percentage while allowing just five goals in nine total appearances.
THE HISTORY: Daemen will be seeking its first-ever wins in the all-time series against both opponents this weekend...Dowling scored a 2-0 win in the teams' first meeting in Amherst on October 18, 2013, and followed that with a 3-0 win on Long Island last season...Bridgeport got a goal from Lee Martins in double overtime to take their first meeting with Daemen on October 20, 2013...UB picked up a 2-0 win in last season's meeting in Connecticut.
SENIOR SALUTE: Sunday's game versus Bridgeport marks the final home contest in the careers of a trio of Daemen seniors - Robert Ralyea, Kenny May and Frank Poppolo...both Ralyea and May are four-year members of the team, while Poppolo transferred in for his junior season in 2014...Ralyea and May have been staples of the Daemen back line in their careers, combining to make 114 apperances between them...Ralyea has started all 59 games that he's played in to date...Poppolo has appeared in 28 games while making 12 starts in the last two seasons...he scored his first goal for Daemen earlier this year, the game-winner in a 1-0 shutout of D'Youville...a brief pre-game ceremony commemorating their careers will be conducted Sunday.
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.
