THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team travels to Erie, Pa. Tuesday (Sept. 15) to square off against Gannon University in a non-league tilt…the game will mark the first of five-straight road games for the Wildcats.
Tuesday, Sept. 15 (at Erie, Pa.)
Daemen at Gannon, 7 p.m.
DC ROSTER / GU 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 (1-3): 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…Daemen is coming off losses to Stonehill (3-2) and Saint Rose (2-0) this past weekend…junior Michael Gandt scored the golden goal off a feed from red-shirt freshman Jeremy Nand in the win over UPJ…Nand has totaled a team-high four assists…freshman Kyle Tracy scored his first two career goals in the loss to Stonehill…freshman Justin Figler (2.14 GAA) has gone the distance in net in all four games and made six saves in the loss to Slippery Rock.
THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (1-3): Gannon is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)…the Golden Knights are ranked seventh in the 2015 PSAC preseason poll…GU finished 5-11-1 overall and 4-6-1 in the PSAC last year…first-year head coach Dale White must overcome the graduation of four-time All-PSAC forward Robbie Bennett who totaled a team-high 11 goals and 26 points last year…the Golden Knights opened the 2015 season with three-straight losses to Notre Dame College (2-0), University of Charleston (4-0) and Bloomsburg University (1-0)…the Golden Knights are coming off a 2-1 win over West Chester University this past weekend…sophomore defender George Stannard and junior midfielder Sergio Kobowane scored in the win over WCU…sophomore Jorge Hernandez (2.00 GAA) has gone the distance in net in all four games and made nine saves in the loss to Charleston.
THE HISTORY: Tuesday's game will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Golden Knights…GU owns a 3-1 advantage in the series…the teams met for the first time since the 1983 season last year and the Wildcats posted a 3-1 victory at Dimp Wagner Stadium…it marked Daemen's first-ever win over the Golden Knights…the teams traded goals early on, before Cole Beale's second goal of the game with 3:54 left in the first half have the Wildcats a 2-1 lead…Alex Reid closed out the scoring in the 63rd minute…Gannon outshot the Wildcats 23-12 in the game, but Matt Daddario came up big for Daemen with 10 saves.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until next Tuesday (Sept. 22) when they travel across town to face D'Youville College in a non-league match…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.
