Men's Soccer Looks For First League Win Saturday At NYIT

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

Men's Soccer | 9/28/2017 2:55:00 PM

GAME INFORMATION
Daemen Wildcats (3-6, 0-2 ECC) vs. N.Y. Inst. of Technology Bears (3-5, 0-2 ECC)
Saturday, Sept. 30 | 2:30 p.m.
Old Westbury, N.Y. | President's Stadium

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. Of the team's 19 goals this season, 17 have been scored by European-born freshmen. That's more goals than seven ECC teams have scored overall this season.

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 Kristian Aadnoy, Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin, Samuel Lockman and Brage Wiik have started all nine contests thus far, and 14 total freshmen have made at least one start.

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 eight goals, five assists and 21 points so far this season. Aadnoy's five goals leads the team; 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, who shares the team lead in assists with fellow freshman Anthony Cupello, has scored three times. He netted the game-winner 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 which was snapped last week at Gannon.

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).

HERDING THE RAMS
Daemen snapped a four-game slide with Monday's 4-0 road win at Shepherd. The Wildcats got four goals from four different freshmen over a 15-minute span of the first half. Midfielder Anthony Cupello got things started with his first career tally in the 22nd minute. Kristian Aadnoy, who assisted on Cupello's goal, scored his team-leading fifth goal of the year in the 27th minute. Less than two minutes later, Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin scored on a penalty kick - his second tally of the season, both of which coming on penalty kicks. And in the 35th minute, Noah Keem registered his first career goal. The offensive outburst was more than enough to put the game out of reach. Freshman goalkeeper Mike D'Amato made four saves and recorded the first shutout of his career.

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 56 games. Three of Reid's tallies have been of the game-winning variety, including two in wins over rival Roberts Wesleyan.

OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION
Daemen's string of consecutive multi-goal games was snapped at five with a 3-1 loss at Gannon on Sept. 19. The stretch marked the first time in team history that Daemen 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 third among all ECC teams in total goals (19) and fourth in goals per game (2.11).

NYIT SCOUTING REPORT
NYIT is led by head coach Carlos Delcid who has led the Bears to a record of 182-90-32 in his 17 seasons of work. The Bears are coming off a successful 2016 season, going 10-4-4 overall, 5-2-2 in league play and qualifying for its fifth ECC Tournament berth in the last six seasons. NYIT returns 16 players from their 2016 roster, including seven who made at 10 starts. A trio of all-conference honorees headline the Bears' returners. Senior midfielder Krishen Patel, a third-team All-ECC pick in 2016, led the team in points (17) after scoring six goals and registering five assists. Second-team All-ECC forward Martin Sundell led the Bears with eight goals a season ago. Also back is third-team All-ECC goalkeeper Jonathan Rico who notched seven shutouts while posting a 1.06 goals-against average and a .762 save percentage in 2016. The Bears were picked second in the ECC preseason poll, but have gotten off to a bit of a slow start in 2017. They bring a three-game losing streak into Thursday's non-league contest with Wilmington (Del.) prior to meeting Daemen Saturday. The Bears rank last in the league in total goals (10) and goals per game (1.25). The Bears' 10 goals this season have been scored by 10 different players. Freshman forward Alberto Alonso Marchan leads the team in points (4) and assists (2). Rico has been the exclusive net-minder this season, and he's posted a 1.25 goals-against average.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. NYIT: 0-5
Streak: Lost 5
Last Meeting: NYIT 4, Daemen 0 | Oct. 14, 2016 | Amherst, N.Y.

UP NEXT
Daemen concludes a string of three-straight road games next Wednesday, Oct. 4 with a trip east to Roberts Wesleyan.

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Players Mentioned

#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

#3 Victor Lanje: D; 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

#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

#3 Victor Lanje
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: D

#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