THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team hosts Queens College (Oct. 10) and Molloy College (Oct. 11) in East Coast Conference action this weekend…after playing five-straight road games, the Wildcats will play five of their final seven games in the friendly confines of Dimp Wagner Stadium.
Saturday, Oct. 10 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium - Amherst, N.Y.)
Queens at Daemen, 3:30 p.m.
DC ROSTER / QC ROSTER / LIVE STATS / GAME PROGRAM
Sunday, Oct. 11 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium - Amherst, N.Y.)
Molloy at Daemen, 1 p.m.
DC ROSTER / MC 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 (2-6-1; 0-2-1 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 1-2-1 over their last four games and opened ECC play with losses to Mercy (3-1) and St. Thomas Aquinas (3-2)…DC is coming off a 3-3 (2OT) tie with rival Roberts Wesleyan 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 the OT tie with RWC…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 (2.24 GAA) has gone the distance in net in all nine games and made a season-high seven saves in the OT tie with RWC…he stopped two shots against D'Youville en route to his first career shutout.
THE KNIGHTS (2-6-0; 2-2-0 ECC): Queens was picked eighth in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Knights posted a 5-9-1 overall record and a 3-7-0 mark in the ECC last year…senior midfielders Pol Narbona and Glen Reid top the list of returning players…Narbona totaled a team-high 16 points last year, while Reid has collected All-ECC honors each of the last two seasons…Queens opened ECC play with a 4-3 (2OT) win over Molloy last month, and has also posted a 4-1 win over STAC…league losses have come against Bridgeport (1-0) and LIU Post (2-0)…QC is coming off a 3-0 non-league loss to Adelphi…Altor Gurruchaga scored two goals in the win over Molloy and has totaled a team-high six points (3 gls, 0 asts)…additional offense has come from Nicholas Matusewicz (1 gl, 3 asts) and Paul Sandoval (2 gls, 1 ast)…James Brostowski has started six of QC's eight games in net owns a 1.99 GAA...he made three saves in the win over Molloy.
THE LIONS (6-3-0; 1-2-0 ECC): Molloy was picked sixth in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Lions posted a 5-11-2 overall record and a 5-4-1 mark in the ECC last year…head coach Danny Longo must overcome the graduation of 2014 ECC Goaltender of the Year Justin Corke and All-ECC forward Hamza Elotmani…the Lions play at Roberts Wesleyan Friday before facing Daemen Sunday…MC has won three of its last four games and is coming off a 3-0 non-league win over Assumption Tuesday…MC opened ECC play with a 4-3 loss to Queens on Oct. 19…the Lions defeated Dowling (2-0) and lost to NYIT (3-1) in their other ECC games so far…junior college transfer Mosiah Whyte scored two goals in the win over Assumption and has totaled a league-high 19 points (8 gls, 3 asts)…additional offense has come from junior Kyle Poetzsch (5 gls, 1 ast) and sophomore Lucas Munoz (3 gls, 1 ast)…sophomore Stephen Tappeto has started all nine games in net and owns a 1.51 GAA with three shutouts…he made a season-high 10 saves in a recent 1-0 win over Philadelphia.
THE HISTORY: Friday's game will mark the third meeting between Daemen and Queens…the Knights have prevailed in each of the previous two meetings…QC posted a 2-0 victory last year in Flushing, N.Y…the teams met for the first time ever during the 2013 season in Amherst, N.Y.…the Knights posted a 5-2 victory over the Wildcats in the first-ever meeting…Sunday's game will also mark the third meeting between Daemen and Molloy…the Lions have prevailed in each of the previous two meetings…MC posted a 1-0 victory last year in Rockville Centre, N.Y…Joey Pinto scored the lone goal in the 70th minute…the teams met for the first time ever during the 2013 season in Amherst, N.Y…the Lions posted a 4-1 victory over the Wildcats in the first-ever meeting.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until Oct. 17 when they host the University of the District of Columbia in an 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.
