THE LEAD: The Daemen College men's soccer team closes out the non-league portion of its 2015 schedule Tuesday (Sept. 22) night when it travels across town to face the Spartans of D'Youville College.
Tuesday, Sept. 22 (at D'Youville Outdoor Athletic Complex, Buffalo, Pa.)
Daemen at D'Youville, 7 p.m.
DAEMEN ROSTER / D'YOUVILLE ROSTER
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 (1-4-0): 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 25 points (10 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), Saint Rose (2-0) and Gannon (3-2)…six different players have scored a goal so far this season…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…freshmen Kyle Tracy scored his first two career goals in the loss to Stonehill…Reid scored his 10th career goal during the loss to Gannon last week…freshman Justin Figler (2.30 GAA) has gone the distance in net in all five both games and made a season-high six saves in the season-opening loss to Slippery Rock.
THE SPARTANS (1-5-0): D'Youville is a member of the NCAA Division III Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC)…the Spartans are ranked sixth in the 2015 AMCC preseason poll…DC finished 4-11-2 overall and 3-5-1 in the AMCC last year…third-year head coach Brendan Murphy returns the top four scorers from last year and goaltender Brett Matthews who started 13 of 17 games last year…the Spartans opened the year with four-straight losses to Wells College (3-0), Keuka College (2-0), Mt. St. Vincent (2-1) and Mt. St. Joseph (4-0), before posting a 1-0 victory at Alfred State this past weekend…D'Youville is coming off a 3-2 (OT) loss at Westminster this past weekend…four different players have scored for the Spartans this season…Brandon Paully scored the game-winner in the 1-0 win over Alfred State…Matthews (2.40 GAA) has started five games in net and made eight saves in the OT loss to Westminster.
THE HISTORY: Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and D'Youville.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats open East Coast Conference play with games at Mercy College (Sept. 25) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sept. 27) this weekend…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.
