Men's Soccer Looks To Bounce Back At Queens

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

Men's Soccer | 10/17/2017 12:30:00 PM

GAME INFORMATION
Daemen Wildcats (5-9, 1-5 ECC) vs. Queens Knights (5-5-2, 2-2-2 ECC)
Wednesday, Oct. 18 | 3:00 p.m.
Flushing, N.Y. | QC Soccer 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 14 contests thus far, and 14 total freshmen have made at least one start. Of the team's 31 goals this season, 28 have been scored by freshmen; that's more goals than five ECC teams have scored overall this season.

FLOURISHING FORWARDS
Freshmen forwards Noah Keem, Kristian Aadnoy and Finn Krueger have made an immediate impact in their initial collegiate season. The trio has combined for 16 goals, 10 assists and 42 points thus far. Keem leads the team and all ECC freshmen in goals (6) and points (15), and every one of his points have come in the last six games. Aadnoy and Krueger have notched five goals apiece. 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.

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 inaugural 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 61 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 nine multi-goal games this season. The Wildcats rank second among all ECC teams in total goals (31) and fourth in goals per game (2.21). It's the first time Daemen has scored more than 20 goals in a season since 2011 when the team put up 43.

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.

HEY ROOKIE
Noah Keem is the latest player to earn ECC Rookie of the Week honors after registering three goals and two assists in two games during the week of Oct. 9-15. It was Keem's second ECC Rookie of the Week selection this season, and team's fourth. Freshman defender/midfielder Sander Johannessen earned ECC Rookie of the Week honors for games played Oct. 2-8 after he scored the first goal of his career in overtime to deliver Daemen's 2-1 win at Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 4. Kristian Aadnoy has also been an ECC Rookie of the Week selection this season, earning the award for Sept. 4-10 when he scored four goals over a three-game span. The four weekly accolades are the most that Daemen has earned in a season since joining the league in 2013.

DROPPING DIMES
Daemen has totaled 29 assists which leads the ECC this season. It's the team's highest total since registering 28 during the 2011 season. A total of 10 players have had at least one assist for the Wildcats, led by freshman midfielder Anthony Cupello who is tied for third among the ECC leaders with six. Fellow freshman Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin is tied for seventh with five assists.

BATTLE OF THE CATS
Daemen pulled off a 6-1 victory over Pitt-Johnstown on 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.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
The Wildcats are coming off a 4-3 (2OT) loss at home to Bridgeport this past Saturday, Oct. 14. Despite falling behind 2-1 and 3-2, the Wildcats battled back twice, getting second half goals from freshmen Finn Krueger and Samuel Lockman to force the game to overtime. The loss was Daemen's fifth this season by a single goal (3-5 record in one-goal games), three of which have come in conference play.

QUEENS SCOUTING REPORT
Queens is led by first-year head coach Frank Vertullo who took the reins of the program in July after spending 10 seasons as the head man at Suffolk Community College where he compiled a 161-24-13 overall record. The Knights' roster features just nine returners from their 2016 team which went 6-7-4 overall (3-4-2 in ECC play), and 19 newcomers. The returners are headlines by junior midfielder Andras Breuer, a second-team All-ECC pick in 2016 after leading the Knights in goals (7), assists (6) and points (20). Also back is sophomore forward Emgi Gousse who tallied five goals, four assists and 14 points in his rookie season. Queens was picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll, and the Knights will enter Wednesday's contest in the thick of the race for a conference tournament berth at 2-2-2 in league play (5-5-2 overall). After battling nationally-ranked LIU Post to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 7, the Knight suffered a non-league home loss to Concordia (3-1) on Oct. 10, but rebounded with a 3-2 league win at Roberts Wesleyan last Saturday. Three of QC's six league games have been decided by a single goal (1-2 record in those games; 3-3 overall this season in one-goal games). Gousse has paced the QC offense thus far with nine goals and 19 points (ranks fourth among ECC leaders in both categories). Breuer (5 goals, 6 assists, 16 points) and newcomer Pedro Lamarre (4 goals, 1 assist, 9 points) have also produced. Net-minders Robert Retnauer and Chidiebere Iloka have split time this season. Retnauer got the win against Roberts Wesleyan, his first since Sept. 12. The Knights are tied for third in the league with 29 total goals this season, while ranking seventh in goals-against average (2.21).

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Queens: 0-4
Streak: Lost 4
Last Meeting: Queens 3, Daemen 2 | Sept. 30, 2016 | Flushing, N.Y.

UP NEXT
Daemen wraps up the home portion of the 2017-18 season by hosting District of Columbia this Saturday, Oct. 21.

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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

#16 Anthony Cupello: M; 5' 8"; 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

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

#16 Anthony Cupello
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: M

#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