Men's Soccer Closes Homestand Saturday Vs. Bridgeport

By: Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Men's Soccer | 10/13/2017 9:10:00 AM

GAME INFORMATION
Daemen Wildcats (5-8, 1-4 ECC) vs. Bridgeport Purple Knights (2-8-1, 1-4-1 ECC)
Saturday, Oct. 14 | 1:00 p.m.
Amherst, N.Y. | Karrer Field

GAME LINKS
Live Stats
Live Video on the ECC Network
Game Day

BACK IN THE SADDLE
Head coach Bobby McColl returns for his second season on the Daemen sidelines in 2017, and his sixth overall as a collegiate head coach. McColl heads into the 2017 season with a career coaching record of 47-41-8 with previous stops as the head men's coach at Greenville College (2012) and the head women's coach at Roberts Wesleyan College (2013-15). McCoy recently sat down for a video interview to preview his team's 2017 season.

WILDCATS PICKED 10TH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
Following a vote of the league's head coaches, Daemen has been picked to finish 10th in the East Coast Conference this season. The Wildcats went 2-15 overall and 0-9 in league play last season. LIU Post, which has won four of the last five ECC titles, was voted as the unanimous favorite this season, and the Pioneers open the year ranked No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II preseason poll.

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
Daemen's roster features 11 international players - the most in team history.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Daemen boasts one of the youngest rosters in the country in 2017 with 22 freshmen. That hasn't stopped head coach Bobby McColl from leaning on his first-year college players. The Daemen coach has put at least nine freshmen in his starting lineup in every game this season. Freshmen Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin and Brage Wiik have started all 13 contests thus far, and 14 total freshmen have made at least one start. Of the team's 28 goals this season, 25 have been scored by freshmen; that's more goals than seven ECC teams have scored overall this season.

ONE-TWO PUNCH
Freshmen forwards Kristian Aadnoy and Finn Krueger have made an immediate impact in their initial collegiate season. The pair has combined for nine goals, seven assists and 25 points thus far. Aadnoy's five goals is tied for the team lead; four of his tallies came while helping the Wildcats to a 2-1 record in games between Sept. 4-10. He registered the first multi-goal game of his career with a pair of markers in Daemen's 3-2 road win at Stonehill, and added single tallies against Walsh and Bloomsburg. For his efforts, Aadnoy was named the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Week. He became just the third Daemen player since 2013 to earn any of league's three weekly awards. Krueger netted the game-winning goal in spectacular fashion (a diving header in the 88th minute) to lift Daemen to a 3-2 victory over Stonehill on Sept. 4. He went on to post back-to-back three-point games in losses to Bloomsburg and St. Thomas Aquinas to establish a four-game point streak.

STREAK STOPPERS
Daemen's 3-2 victory over Stonehill on Sept. 4 snapped a seven-game slide dating back to the last season, and a 31-game winless streak (0-30-1) against NCAA Division II opponents which dated back to the 2015 season. Daemen's 2-1 victory over Walsh on Sept. 9 snapped a 13-game slide in the all-time series with the Cavaliers. Daemen had been winless against their former NAIA and American Mideast Conference rivals in a series that dates back to Daemen's innaugural season of competition (2000).

REID RETURNS
The Daemen lineup got a boost at the start of the season with the return of redshirt senior forward Alex Reid who missed all of the 2016 season due to injury. Reid, who appeared in the 50th game of his career on Sept. 4 vs. Stonehill, has come off the bench in each game this season. He recorded a goal in a 3-2 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Sept. 16, his first since Oct. 30, 2015, and he scored again in last Tuesday's 3-1 loss at Gannon. It marked the third time in Reid's career that he's scored in back-to-back games, and the first time he's done so since Oct. 26 and Nov. 1 of 2013. For his career, Reid has totaled 15 goals, seven assists and 37 points in 60 games. Three of Reid's tallies have been of the game-winning variety, including two in wins over rival Roberts Wesleyan.

OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION
Daemen put together a string of five consecutive multi-goal games in September, marking the first time in team history that the team has recorded at least five-straight games with two or more goals. The previous long of four-straight multi-goal games had only been accomplished twice since the inception of the program in 2000, and not since 2005. Daemen has recorded two games with four goals this season, the first time that's been done since 2011. The Wildcats rank second among all ECC teams in total goals (28) and fourth in goals per game (2.15).

HEY ROOK-KEEM
Freshman forward/defender Noah Keem has come on of late to score five goals over the last five games. He was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for games played Sept. 25 through Oct. 1 after registering two goals and an assist while helping Daemen to a 1-1 record for the week. The Sweet Home High School product notched his first career goal in the Wildcats' 4-0 shutout of Shepherd. He added an assist on a Kristian Aadnoy tally in that game. Keem went on to score Daemen's lone goal in a 5-1 loss at NYIT. In an overtime win at Roberts Wesleyan, he tied the game at 1-1 with a goal in the 80th minute, and became the second Daemen player (Kristian Aadnoy) to register goals in three consecutive games this season. Keem notched the first multi-goal game of his career when he scored twice while adding an assist in a 6-1 rout of Pitt-Johnstown of Oct. 10.

THRUWAY RIVALRY WIN
Daemen pulled off a dramatic 2-1 win in overtime against longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 4. Noah Keem knotted the game at 1-1 with his goal in the 80th minute, and fellow freshman Sander Johannessen scored the game-winner in the 100th minute. Johannessen got free inside the box and scored with a low shot inside the right post after taking a feed from classmate Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin. It was the first goal of Johannessen's career as he became the first Daemen freshman to score an overtime game-winner since teammate Alex Reid did so in his collegiate debut which also delivered a win over Roberts Wesleyan (3-2, 2OT on Sept. 5, 2013). Freshman goalkeeper Mike D'Amato went the distance and made six saves to preserve the victory. The win snapped a 27-game winless drought (0-26-1) in East Coast Conference games that dated back to the 2014 season. It was also Daemen's first overtime win since defeating Pitt-Johnstown 3-2 (2OT) on Sept. 7, 2015, and it snapped a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) in games that went to overtime. Daemen is now 3-3 this season in games that are decided by one goal.

ADDING UP THE ACCOLADES
Freshman defender/midfielder Sander Johannessen is the latest player to earn ECC Rookie of the Week honors, doing so for games played Oct. 2-8. Johannessen scored the first goal of his career in overtime to deliver Daemen's 2-1 win at Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 4. He joined teammates Kristian Aadnoy and Noah Keem as players who have earned ECC Rookie of the Week honors this season. The three weekly accolafes are the most that Daemen has earned in a season since joining the league in 2013.

BATTLE OF THE CATS
Daemen is coming off a 6-1 victory over Pitt-Johnstown this past Tuesday, Oct. 10. The Wildcats were sparked by a three-goal outburst in the span of just six minutes in the first half en route to their third win over their last five contests. The loss kept UPJ winless this season (0-10-1); the Mountain Cats entered the game ranked last in the country in goals-against average. Daemen got goals from Samuel Lockman, Noah Keem (2), Logan Podrebarac, Finn Krueger and Craig Buchanan in the win. The six goals were the most for the Wildcats against an NCAA Division II team since Daemen began playing a full Division II schedule in 2013.

BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT
Bridgeport is led by second-year head coach Peter Doneit who guided the Purple Knights to a 3-11-2 overall record (3-4-2 in ECC play) in 2016. UB returns 20 players from its 2016 roster, including senior midfielder Jay Abreu who earned third-team All-ECC honors. Also back is senior forward/midfielder Femi Coker who led the Purple Knights in goals (6), assists (4) and points (16) last season. Picked eighth in the ECC preseason poll, UB is winless (0-5-1) over their last six contests. The Purple Knights' last win was a 2-0 shutout of NYIT on Sept. 14. After matching a season-high for goals in a 4-4 (2OT) tie at Queens on Sept. 23, the Purple Knights went scoreless over the next three games, falling at St. Thomas Aquinas (3-0), and at home to Mercy (1-0) and District of Columbia (2-0). The scoreless streak was snapped this past Tuesday, Oct. 10 at East Stroudsburg, but UB fell 2-1. Freshman Jovante Etienne has paced the UB offense thus far with five goals and 12 points. He's the only player on the team with at least 10 shots on goal this season (13). Juniors Daniel Coviella and Juan Munoz have split time between the pipes; Coviella has posted a 2.42 goals-against average in eight games while Munoz owns a 2.33 goals-against average in three appearances.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Bridgeport: 0-4
Streak: Lost 4
Last Meeting: Bridgeport 1, Daemen 0 | Oct. 23, 2016 | Bridgeport, Conn.

UP NEXT
Daemen plays its second conference road game of the month Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Queens.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Logan Podrebarac: M/D; 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior

#22 Alex Reid: M/F; 5' 7"; Redshirt Senior

#9 Kristian Aadnoy: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

#7 Noah Keem: F/D; 6' 0"; Freshman

#11 Finn Krueger: M; 6' 1"; Freshman

#15 Samuel Lockman: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

#23 Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin: M; 6' 0"; Freshman

#4 Brage Wiik: D; 5' 9"; Freshman

#35 Mike D'Amato: GK; 5' 11"; Freshman

#5 Sander Johannessen: D/M; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#12 Logan Podrebarac
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior
: M/D

#22 Alex Reid
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Senior
: M/F

#9 Kristian Aadnoy
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F

#7 Noah Keem
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: F/D

#11 Finn Krueger
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: M

#15 Samuel Lockman
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F

#23 Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: M

#4 Brage Wiik
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: D

#35 Mike D'Amato
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: GK

#5 Sander Johannessen
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: D/M