THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's soccer team opens East Coast Conference play this weekend with road games at Mercy College (Sept. 25) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sept. 27).
Friday, Sept. 25 (at Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.)
Daemen at Mercy, 1 p.m.
DC ROSTER / MC ROSTER / LIVE STATS / VIDEO
Sunday, Sept. 27 (at Sparkill, N.Y.)
Daemen at St. Thomas Aquinas, 12 p.m.
DC ROSTER / STAC 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 women'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 (2-4-1; 0-0-0 ECC): Daemen returns 11 players from last year's team that finished 6-14-1 overall and 0-8-1 in the 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 and Stephanie Zurales 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 losses to Slippery Rock (7-1), Le Moyne (2-1) and Lake Erie (3-1), before battling Walsh University to a scoreless tie…the Wildcats remained winless following a 3-1 loss at Mansfield, before posting wins over Washington Adventist (6-0) and Lincoln (1-0 forfeit) last weekend…Zurales netted DC's lone goal against Mansfield and scored her first career "hat trick" in the win over WAU…she has totaled a team-high 11 points (5 gls, 1 ast)…Carboni, junior Alexis Koral, sophomore Ellen Merchant and senior Ashley Griffin have also scored this season…freshman Meaghan O'Leary (2.62 GAA) has started all seven games in net…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 MAVERICKS (2-1-1; 0-0-0 ECC): Mercy is the defending ECC Tournament champion and was picked third in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Mavericks posted a 17-3-1 record (7-1-1 ECC) and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second-straight year last fall…2014 ECC Coach of the Year Jonathan Feinstein lost three of his top five scorers to graduation, but welcomes back All-ECC midfielder Jessica DeLeon who totaled a team-high 24 points (6 gls, 12 asts) last year…sophomore defender Samantha Scovel returns after earning first-team All-ECC and ECC Rookie of the Year honors last fall…senior goaltender Nicole Augustine also returns after posting a 0.63 GAA with 11 shutouts last year…the Mavericks opened the year with a 3-1 loss to New Haven, before playing Saint Anselm to a 2-2 (2OT) tie…MC is coming off wins over Le Moyne (1-0) and Nyack (8-0)…freshman Lauren Calderaro has been named ECC Rookie of the Week each of the last two weeks…she scored the game-winner against Le Moye and has totaled a team-high nine points (4 gls, 1 ast)…Augustine (1.55 GAA) has started three games in net and made eight saves in tie with St. Anselm.
THE SPARTANS (2-4-0; 0-1-0 ECC): St. Thomas Aquinas was picked eighth in the 2015 ECC preseason poll...the Spartans posted a 6-7-2 overall record and a 2-6-1 mark in the ECC last year…veteran head coach Graham Brown must overcome the graduation of forward Mae Comerford who totaled a team-high 11 points (5 gls, 1 ast) last year…the Spartans have posted wins over Washington Adventist (6-0) and Lincoln (4-3) this year and suffered losses to Ramapo (6-0), Bloomfield (3-2), Malone (4-3) and Dowling (5-0)…sophomore Alyssa Rosania scored twice in the win over Lincoln and has totaled a team-high 12 points (6 gls, 0 asts)…senior Lauren Morales (3.62 GAA) and freshman Courtney Dumain (3.16 GAA) have shared the goaltending duties thus far…Dumain made six saves in the win over Lincoln.
THE HISTORY: Friday's game will mark just the third all-time meeting between Daemen and Mercy…the Mavericks have prevailed in each of the previous two meetings…Mercy posted a 2-0 victory at Daemen last year…the Mavericks scored just 4:17 in to the game and secured the win following a goal by Jessica DeLeon with just over 10 minutes to play…the Mavericks also prevailed, 6-1, in the first-ever meeting at Mercy during the 2013 season…Sunday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and STAC…the series is knotted at 1-1-1…the teams met for the first time ever in 2012 and the Spartans posted a 3-1 victory at Dimp Wagner Stadium…Daemen answered with a 4-1 victory in 2013 and the teams battled to a 1-1 (2OT) tie last year in Amherst…Cassidy Kozub scored for Daemen, while Francesca Giglio scored for STAC.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Tuesday (Oct. 29) when they host Mercyhurst College in a non-league game…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.
