| THE LEAD |
| The Daemen College men's soccer team opens the East Coast Conference portion of their 2016 schedule this weekend when they host Mercy College and St. Thomas Aquinas College. |
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| GAME INFORMATION |
| Daemen vs. Mercy |
| Date: Friday, September 16 |
Time:Â 11:00 a.m. |
Location: Park School Field - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| Daemen vs. St. Thomas Aquinas |
| Date: Sunday, September 18 |
Time: 11:00 a.m. |
Location: Park School Field - Amherst, N.Y. |
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| GAME LINKS |
| Daemen Roster |
Daemen Schedule |
Daemen Stats |
| Mercy Roster |
Mercy Schedule |
Mercy Stats |
| St. Thomas Aquinas Roster |
St. Thomas Aquinas Schedule |
St. Thomas Aquinas Stats |
| Live Stats (Both Games) |
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| SOCIAL MEDIA |
| Daemen Twitter:Â |
@DaemenAthletics, @DaemenMSOC |
| Daemen Hashtags:Â |
#DCWildcatNation, #WNYsD2Team, #LiveBreatheDaemen, #beFIERCE |
| Mercy Twitter:Â |
@MercyMavericks |
| St. Thomas Aquinas Twitter: |
@STACSpartans |
| Game Hashtags: |
#DAEvsMC, #DAEvsSTAC |
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| ON THE SIDELINES |
Daemen: Bobby McColl enters his first season at the helm for Daemen after spending the last three seasons as the Head Women's Soccer Coach at Roberts Wesleyan College...McColl's tenure at Roberts Wesleyan notably came during that program's ascent to the NCAA Division II level of competition, compiling a 35-20-5 record in that span, including a 12-5-3 mark last season in which McColl led the Redhawks to an apparance in the East Coast Conference Tournament finals and at-large berth in the NCAA Division II National Championships....prior to his time in Rochester, McColl served for one season as the Head Men's Soccer Coach at Greenville College (Ill.), leading that NCAA Division III program to a 10-6-3 mark and a second-place finish in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference...a native of Glasgow, Scotland, McColl came stateside to compete collegiately, playing three season at Union University (Tenn.) before finishing his career at Trinity International University (Ill.).
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Mercy: Pedro Velazquez is in his first season as the head coach of the Mercy Mavericks...a former Maverick goalkeeper, Velazquez had served as an assistant of the Mercy staff for five seasons before being promoted to the top post in January of this year...as an assistant Velazquez helped the Mavericks to back-to-back ECC Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013.
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St. Thomas Aquinas: Northern Ireland native Graham Brown is in his ninth season as the head coach of the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans...over his first eight seasons in Sparkill, Brown led the Spartans to a 63-54-19 record, a pair of ECC Tournament appearances and one NCAA Tournament berth. |
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| DAEMEN SCOUTING REPORT (1-5-0, 0-0-0 ECC) |
| Daemen returns 13 players from last year's team that finished 2-13-1 overall and 0-9-1 in the East Coast Conference…first-year head coach Bobby McColl returns the team's top two scorers and starting goalkeeper from last year...…sophomore Kyle Tracy and senior Alex Reid shared the team lead in scoring last season, both posting 10 points....Tracy's point total came on his team-leading five goals...Reid has scored 13 goals in his career and totaled 33 points heading into his final season for the Wildcats...sophomore net-minder Justin Figler played every second of every game last season as a true freshman, finishing second in the ECC with 88 saves...also back is senior forward Cole Beale who notched a team-high five goals and 11 points in 2014…in the midfield, Daemen returns a pair of veterans in Nick Sammarco and Logan Podrebarac...Sammarco has made 34 starts in his career to date while Podrebarac started in 14 of his 15 appearances last season while posting five points...senior Austin Stephany returns to anchor the Wildcat defense...he's made 30 appearances in the last two seasons, including 29 starts, since transferring from Division I Buffalo...newcomers who are expected to make an immediate impact include senior forward Colin Edwards, a transfer from Tiffin University, and freshmen backs Kyle White and Joe Keem...Daemen was picked 10th in the 2016 ECC preseason poll...Daemen snapped an 11-game slide dating back to last season with a 1-0 win at D'Youville on Sunday...freshman forward Ali Shawish netted the first goal of his career which stood up as the game-winner...the Wildcats dominated possession and established a 23-5 edge in total shot attempts...Figler needed to make just one save to record his second career shutout...the win marked the first in the tenure of new head coach Bobby McColl...Daemen is coming off an 8-1 loss to Gannon, the No. 5 ranked team in the Atlantic Region, on Tuesday...Shawish scored the lone Daemen goal as he became the fist Daemen player to score in consecutive games since Tracy did so i the middle of last season...Shawish has paced the Wildcat offense thus far with a team-high 24 shot attempts which ranks second in the ECC...additional offensive production has come from Beale (12 shots) who scored in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Ashland...Figler leads all ECC goalkeepers with 23 saves. |
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| MERCY SCOUTING REPORT (3-0-1, 0-0-0 ECC) |
| Mercy returns 14 players from last year's team that finished 6-9-1 overall and 4-5-1 in East Coast Conference play...among the returners are a trio of players who earned All-ECC honors last season...senior back Adil Gowani headlined the group as a second-team All-ECC pick in 2015 after anchoring a Maverick defense which ranked sicth in the league in total goals allowed per game (1.59)...also back are 2015 third-team All-ECC picks Donovan Cesar and Lucca Lacerda...Lacerda led the team in assists (5) and tied for the team lead in total points (11)...Cesar posted nine points on three goals and three assists...the Mavericks were picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll...MC opened the season with a 2-1 win over St. Rose, followed by a 2-2 tie with Le Moyne...more recently, the Mavericks have recorded back-to-back shutouts with wins over American International (3-0) and Felician (2-0)...newcomer Ericson Penate has paced the Mercy offense with three goals this season...his 17 total shot attempts are tied with Lacerda for the team lead...the Mavericks have also gotten two goals apiece from Haxhi Verjoni and Gonzalo Prando...in goal, junior Kwantarian Van der Lara leads the ECC in save percentage (.842) while ranking third in goals against average (0.71). |
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| THE HISTORY |
| All-Time: Mercy leads the series, 3-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings: |
| Sept. 25, 2015 - Mercy 3, Daemen 1 |
(@ Mercy) |
Game Recap |
| Oct. 3, 2014 - Mercy 3, Daemen 0 |
(@ Daemen) |
Game Recap |
| Nov. 1, 2013 - Mercy 2, Daemen 1 |
(@ Mercy) |
Game Recap |
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| ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SCOUTING REPORT (3-1-0, 0-0-0 ECC) |
| St. Thomas Aquinas returns 15 players from their 2015 team which achieved an overall record of 5-11-1 and an East Coast Conference mark of 2-7-1...among the Spartan returners is sophomore midfielder Luis Morales who led the team in goals (6) and total points (13) last season...also back are Chris Estevez and Brian Kinsella who combined for 15 points (5 gls, 5 asts) in 2015...England native Jack Nicholson is the most expeienced net-minder returning after going 3-4 in seven starts last season...STAC was picked ninth in the ECC preseason poll...the Spartans got off to a fast start in 2016, winning their first three games by outscoring their opponents 11-4...Morales recorded a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, in a 4-3 win at Goldey-Beacom on Sept. 7...STAC is coming off a 4-2 loss at Assumption last Saturday, and they'll play at Roberts Wesleyan on Friday before heading to Daemen on Sunday...the Spartans head into the weekend ranked second in the ECC in goals (13) and goals per game (3.25)...Morales leads the team in goals (3) and points (7), ranking fifth in the ECC in both categories...junior midfielder Alejandro Coyt-Orozco leads the league with five assists...Nicholson has gotten the nod between the pipes in all four contests thus far...he ranks fourth in total saves with 16. |
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| THE HISTORY |
| All-Time: St. Thomas Aquinas leads the series, 2-1-0 |
| Previous Meetings: |
| Sept. 27, 2015 - St. Thomas Aquinas 3, Daemen 2 |
(@ STAC) |
Game Recap |
| Oct. 5, 2014 - Daemen 2, St. Thomas Aquinas 1 (2OT) |
(@ Daemen) |
Game Recap |
| Nov. 3, 2013 - St. Thomas Aquinas 3, Daemen 0 |
(@ STAC) |
Game Recap |
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| ON THE HORIZON |
| Daemen is idle until making their first road trip of the conference season to Queens (Sept. 30) and Molloy (Oct. 2). |
