THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's soccer team will host Lake Erie College and Walsh University in a pair of non-conference games this weekend…both schools are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference…the Wildcats will take on Lake Erie Friday (Sept. 11), before hosting the Cavaliers of Walsh on Sunday (Sept. 13)…both games take place at Dimp Wagner Stadium.
Friday, Sept. 11 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Lake Erie College vs. Daemen, 2:30 p.m.
DC ROSTER / LEC ROSTER / LIVE STATS
Sunday, Sept. 13 (at Dimp Wagner Stadium, Amherst, N.Y.)
Walsh vs. Daemen, 12 p.m.
DC ROSTER / WU 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 men's soccer coach at Daemen…the 2011 American Mideast Conference (AMC) Coach of the Year, Dolan enters 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 (0-2): Daemen returns 11 players from last year's team that finished 6-14-1 overall and 0-8-1 in the competitive 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 (1 gl, 0 asts) and Stephanie Zurales (1 g, 3 asts) 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 opened the 2015 season with a 7-1 loss at Slippery Rock and dropped to 0-2-0 following a 2-1 loss to Le Moyne this past Monday…Zurales scored in the loss to SRU, while Carboni scored in the loss to Le Moyne…freshman Meaghan O'Leary went the distance in net in both games and made eight saves in the loss to Le Moyne.
THE STORM (0-2): Lake Erie College is located in Painesville, Ohio and is a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference…LEC is ranked 11th the 2015 GLIAC preseason poll…second-year head coach Valerie Prause returns several starters from last year's team that finished 7-9-2 overall and 3-7-2 in the GLIAC…junior Elizabeth Awuah totaled 20 points (9 gls, 2 asts) last year and has racked up 39 points (15 gls, 9 asts) over the past two seasons….sophomore forward Ashley Pryce also returns after totaling three goals and seven points as a rookie…the Storm opened the 2015 season with losses to Bellarmine (3-0) and Indianapolis (2-1) last weekend…Pryce scored the lone goal in the loss to UIndy…freshman Marissa Brannon went the distance in net in both games and made 12 saves in the loss to UIndy.
THE CAVALIERS (1-1-1): Walsh University is located in North Canton, Ohio and is also a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference…the Cavaliers are ranked seventh the 2015 GLIAC preseason poll…fifth-year head coach David Renard returns 10 starters from last year's team that finished 8-6-4 overall (5-4-3 in the GLIAC) and made its first-ever appearance in the GLIAC Tournament…seniors Kristen Conti and Jessie Gearhart top the list of returning players…Conti led the team in goals (11) and points (24) and earned honorable mention All-GLIAC honors…Gearhart ranked second in points last year (8-2–18) after leading the team in points (15) and earning honorable mention All-GLIAC accolades as a sophomore in 2013…junior Dani Shambaugh returns between the pipes after starting 13 games last year and posting 0.94 GAA with five shutouts…the Cavaliers opened the 2015 season with a 3-1 loss at Gannon, before posting an 4-0 win over Fairmont State…Walsh played Point Park to a 2-2 (2OT) draw this past Wednesday and hosts Maine-Fort Kent Friday before traveling to Daemen Sunday…Gearhart has scored all four of the team's goals thus far…senior Michaella Stucky has started the first four games in net and made nine saves in the loss to Gannon.
THE HISTORY: Friday's meeting between Daemen and Lake Erie will mark the just the second all-time meeting between the two schools…Lake Erie posted a 1-0 victory in the first-ever meeting last year at LEC…Kalah Saunders snapped a scoreless tie with just 7:14 left in regulation time…Sunday's matchup will pit two former American Mideast Conference foes…Daemen had prevailed in four-straight meetings between the Wildcats and Cavaliers before suffering a 2-0 loss at Walsh last year…Kristen Conti and Amy Gilmore scored for the Cavaliers.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats have a busy week with three non-conference road games in a span of five days next week…they travel to Mansfield University Wednesday (Sept. 16), Washington Adventist Saturday (Sept. 19) and Lincoln University Sunday (Sept. 20)…click HERE for the complete 2015 schedule.
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.
