THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's soccer team kicks off a busy week when it travels to Mansfield, Pa. Wednesday (Sept. 16) to square off against Mansfield University in a non-league tilt…the game will mark the first of five-straight road games for the Wildcats.
Wednesday, Sept. 16 (at Mansfield, Pa.)
Daemen vs. Mansfield, 4 p.m.
DC ROSTER / MU 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 (0-3-1): 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…the Wildcats are coming off a 3-1 loss to Lake Erie College and a 0-0 (2 OT) tie with Walsh University this past weekend…Zurales scored in the loss to SRU, while Carboni scored in the loss to Le Moyne…junior Alexis Koral netted DC's lone goal in the loss to LEC…freshman Meaghan O'Leary (2.84 GAA) has gone the distance in net in all four games…she made eight saves in the loss to Le Moyne and stopped six shots en route to her first career shutout in the OT tie with Walsh.
THE MOUNTAINEERS (0-3-0): Mansfield is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference…the Mountaineers were ranked 16th in the 2015 PSAC preseason poll…MU posted a 3-13-1 overall record and a 2-13-1 mark in the PSAC last fall…veteran head coach Tim Dempsey must overcome the loss of his top goal scorer and No. 1 goalkeeper from last year…the Mountaineers opened the 2015 season with losses to California Pa. (2-1), nationally-ranked East Stroudsburg (3-2) and Indiana Pa. (7-4)…freshman Delaney Meadows registered a three-goal hat trick in the loss to IUP…fellow rookie Rachel Fox (4.00 GAA) has started all three games in net and made 10 saves in the loss to IUP.
THE HISTORY: Daemen and Mansfield will meet for just the third time ever…MU has prevailed in both of the previous two meetings…the teams met for the first time since 2004 last year and Mansfield posted a 2-1 victory at Dimp Wagner Stadium…Daemen tied the game at 1-1 following a goal by Rachael Banasik with 13:14 left in the second half, but the Mountaineers earned the win following a goal by Karyn Anselmo with just 1:29 left in regulation.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats close out the week with road games at Washington Adventist University 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.
