THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team will host Stonehill College and the College of Saint Rose in a pair of non-conference games this weekend…both schools are members of the Northeast-10 Conference…the Wildcats will take on Stonehill Friday (Sept. 11), before hosting the Golden Knights of St. Rose on Saturday (Sept. 12)…both games take place at Dimp Wagner Stadium.
Friday, Sept. 11 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Stonehill vs. Daemen, 12 p.m.
DC ROSTER / SC ROSTER / LIVE STATS
Saturday, Sept. 12 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Saint Rose vs. Daemen, 2 p.m.
DC ROSTER / CSR 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 (1-1): Daemen returns 14 players from last year's team that finished 5-10-0 overall and 2-8-0 in the competitive 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…junior Alex Reid has ranked second on the team in scoring in each of the past two seasons and has totaled 24 points (9 gls, 6 asts) over his career…seniors Robert Ralyea and Kenny May return to anchor the backline…the Wildcats opened the 2015 season with a 2-0 loss at Slippery Rock, before posting a 3-2 (2OT) win over Pitt.-Johnstown this past Monday…junior Michael Gandt scored the golden goal off a feed from red-shirt freshman Jeremy Nand…Andy Reid and Austin Stephany also scored for the Wildcats…freshman Justin Figler has gone the distance in net in both games and made six saves in the loss to SRU.
THE SKYHAWKS (1-1): Stonehill is a long-time member of the Northeast-10 Conference…the Skyhawks are ranked seventh in the 2015 NE-10 preseason poll…SC returns seven starters from last year's team that posted a 11-6-1 overall record and a 9-4-0 mark in the NE-10…the 11 wins were most in a season since 1993…veteran head coach Jim Reddish, the 2014 NE-10 Coach of the Year, returns All-Region forward Drew Montano who tallied a team-high seven goals and 19 points last year…the Skyhawks opened the 2015 season with a 3-2 win over Saint Michael's, before suffering a 2-1 loss to Saint Anselm in the 2015 Catholic Cup…Montano, Adam Branco and Justin Brehm scored in the win over SMC, while Michael Fraioli scored SC's lone goal against St. Anselm…senior Luke Besse went the distance in net in both games and made three saves in the win over SMC…Besse started 11 games last year and posted a 1.68 GAA with three shutouts.
THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (0-1): Saint Rose is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference…the Golden Knights are ranked 12th in the 2015 NE-10 preseason poll…head coach Stephen Hogan returns several key players from last year's team that finished 1-14-2 overall and 1-11-1 in the NE-10…senior midfielder Marco Pavlin returns after totaling a team-high nine points (4 gls, 1 ast) last year…senior Nick Iuorno (3 gls, 1 ast) also returns up front…the Golden Knights opened the year with a 1-0 loss to Mercy College on Sept. 3…senior Colan Balkwell went the distance in net for CSR and made five saves…Balkwell started 12 games last year and posted a 1.92 GAA.
THE HISTORY: Friday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Stonehill and Daemen…Saturday's match will mark just the second all-time meeting between St. Rose and Daemen…the Wildcats rallied for a 2-1 victory in the first-ever meeting last year at St. Rose…Nick Sammarco tied the game at 1-1 in the 57th minute and Cole Beale netted the game-winner with 23:28 left to play.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Tuesday (Sept. 15) when they travel to Gannon University for a non-conference game…it will mark the first of five-straight road games for the Wildcats…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.
