Women's Soccer 10/29/2018 2:50:00 PM By Jake Carlson, Athletics Communications Graduate Assistant

Women's Soccer Makes ECC Championship Debut Tuesday At Bridgeport

GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
ECC Championship Semifinals
#4 Daemen Wildcats (8-7-1, 5-4-0 ECC) vs. #1 Bridgeport Purple Knights (12-4-1, 8-1-0 ECC)
Tuesday, Oct. 30 | 3:00 p.m.
Bridgeport, Conn. | Knights Field

Watch Live - ECC Network
Live Stats

FREE KICK
For the first time since achieving full member status in NCAA Division II, the Daemen women's soccer team is postseason bound as the No. 4 seed in the East Coast Conference Championship. The Wildcats will take on top-seeded Bridgeport in one of two semifinal round games on Tuesday. The two semifinal winners will meet Friday, Nov. 2 at the highest remaining seed with the conference title on the line. Daemen is coming off a 6-0 non-conference win over Chestnut Hill in their regular season finale this past Saturday. Bridgeport has tasted defeat just once in October, posting an 8-1-1 record for the month. The Purple Knights claimed the ECC regular season title for the eighth time in team history, six of which have come in the last nine seasons.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Wildcats clinched their first-ever ECC Championship berth on Oct. 20. Despite a 5-0 loss at regionally-ranked LIU Post that day, the Wildcats got the help they needed as Mercy topped NYIT to eliminate the Bears from conference tournament contention, locking Daemen into the No. 4 seed. Daemen edged out NYIT by one point in the conference standings, thanks in part to their 2-1 win on Sept. 29 when the teams made their only head-to-head meeting of the season. Bridgeport (12-4-1, 8-1-0 ECC) clinched the ECC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed for the ECC Championship with their 5-0 win at Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 27. Mercy (12-2-1, 7-1-1 ECC), which has been nationally ranked for much of the season, claimed the No. 2 seed and will meet No. 3 LIU Post at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The two semifinal winners will meet Friday, Nov. 2 at the highest remaining seed with the conference title on the line. The conference champion will receive an automatic bid to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Division II National Championships.

OH DANNY BOY
Head coach Dan Dolan returns to the Wildcats for his tenth season in 2018. Since taking over the program in 2009, Dolan has led Daemen to an 87-85-8 record, establishing himself as the program's all-time winningest coach. After going 9-7-1 in 2017, Dolan looks to carry the momentum of that successful campaign into the 2018 season. Dolan's best season came back in 2011 when the Wildcats went 15-4 overall and 11-1 in their final season as a member of the now-defunct American Mideast Conference. He went on to lead the program to three-straight appearances in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) national championship game during the team's transition to NCAA Division II, winning the title in 2012.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Sophomores Maddie Flores and Katelin White have shared time between the pipes for Daemen, much the same as they did during the 2017 season. Both have experienced their share of success, combining for three ECC Rookie of the Week and two ECC Defensive Player of the Week selections last season. White has started five games, appearing in eight, and Flores has started 11; together they have posted a 2.02 goals against average and a .716 save percentage. White registered the team's first shutout this season, a 2-0 win over Shepherd on Sept. 12 which marked the fourth shutout of her career. Flores has started nine of the last 10 games, and has posted two shutouts, helping the Wildcats defeat Queens (3-0 on Oct. 10) and draw with Clarion (0-0 on Oct. 14). Flores ranks eight in total saves (52), ninth in save percentage (.743) and 10th in goals against average (1.80) among the ECC leaders.

VETERAN PRESENCE
The Wildcats feature three players who have appeared in more than 60 games in their careers. Senior defenders Monique Green and Alex Valenti have been fixtures on the Daemen back line in each of their four seasons. In that time, they've played an integral role in helping Daemen pitch 16 shutouts. Green was a third team All-ECC selection last season, one of only three players to earn an all-conference nod since joining the ECC back in 2013. She's appeared in 64 games and made 53 starts in her career. Valenti has appeared in 66 of a possible 67 games in her career, starting in all but one. There's also redshirt senior midfielder Sarah Britton who has totaled five goals, seven assists and 17 points over 65 games in her career.

BEND IT LIKE BOYAR
Junior forward Jamie Boyar has placed herself squarely in the ECC Player of the Year conversation this season. The Williamsville native finished the regular season as the ECC leader in goals (20) and points (43). Her goal total eclipsed the team record for a single season set by Kim Walker in 2005 when she notched 19 goals, and Boyar presently ranks third in goals and fifth in points among the national leaders. Boyar has netted the game-winning goal in five of Daemen's eight wins this season. Several of her game-winning tallies have been of the dramatic fashion. She scored 1:30 into the first overtime period to deliver a 3-2 win over Molloy on Sept. 15; Boyar netted all three goals in the game, marking her first career hat trick. One week later, she scored two goals including the game-winner in overtime to defeat Roberts Wesleyan 3-2. On October 10, Boyar netted all three goals in a 3-0 shutout of Queens, becoming the first Daemen player with multiple three-goal games in a season since Kacey Bougard in 2013. Boyar then scored five goals in a 9-1 win against Lincoln, the most tallies of any player in the country during a single game this season. Daemen is 8-2 this season, and 17-5-1 since 2016 when Boyar scores at least one goal. For her career, she's started all 49 games in the last three seasons, and has totaled 37 goals, 10 assists and 84 points. She ranks second in goals and third in points among Daemen's all-time leaders.

PASE FELIZ
Celia de Pablo Esteban has been a leader at her central attacking midfield position for the Wildcats this season. Hailing from Burgos, Spain, de Pablo Esteban leads the ECC and ranks second nationally with 14 assists this season, just one shy of the team record for a single season. She's just the fourth player in team history to record at least 10 assists in a season, and the first since Janelle Masi and Lindsay Miller both did so during the 2011 season. Ten of de Pablo Esteban's assists have come on goals by Jamie Boyar, including all three of Boyar's goals in a recent 3-0 win over Queens. In her career, she's appeared in and started all 33 games that the team has played, and she's posted eight goals, 17 assists and 33 points.

KAT'S CALLING
Sophomore Katja Meyer has developed into another scoring option for the Wildcats this season. The Verona, N.Y. native has netted four goals while posting three assists this season. She scored the first goal and registered the first assist of her career in Daemen's season-opening 5-2 win over Bloomfield and Aug. 30. Meyer went on to score in back-to-back wins over Roberts Wesleyan and NYIT. Her goal against the regionally-ranked NYIT Bears came with just 39 seconds left of the clock, snapping a 1-1 tie to deliver Daemen's fourth win in the month of September. Meyer posted a goal and an assist, her third three-point game of the season, in Daemen's 6-0 win over Chestnut Hill on Oct. 27. With 11 points this season, Meyer ranks third on the team.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
Daemen's nine-goal outburst against Lincoln on Oct. 17 marked the most goals they've scored since a 9-0 win over Fisher on Oct. 28, 2012. Coupled with a 5-2 win over Bloomfield (Aug. 30) and a 6-0 win over Chestnut Hill (Oct. 27), this is the first time Daemen has scored five or more goals in three games since 2011 when they had six such outbursts.

POSTSEASON BOUND
Daemen is making its first postseason appearance at the Division II level this week. It marks the Wildcats' first postseason trip of any kind since advancing to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championships over three straight seasons (2012-14) during the program's transition to NCAA Division II. At the USCAA nationals, the Wildcats captured the title in 2012, defeating previously unbeaten Maine-Fort Kent 1-0 in overtime. The UMFK Bengals got their revenge in 2013 and 2014, knocking off Daemen in championship rematches both seasons. Tuesday's game marks Daemen's first conference tournament game of any kind since a 2-1 loss to Roberts Wesleyan in the opening round of the American Mideast Conference Tournament in 2011.

BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT
Bridgeport is by Magnus Nilerud who has built the Purple Knights into a perennial powerhouse within the ECC and East Region over his 20-year tenure. In that time, Nilerud has guided the Purple Knights to a 267-114-23 record while earning six ECC Coach of the Year accolades. Bridgeport was picked third in the ECC preseason poll, but claimed the league's regular season title with a 12-4-1 overall record and an 8-1-0 mark in league play, outscoring its opponents 52-21 on the season while leading the ECC in total goals. Junior midfielder and forward Maegen Doyle is among the best offensive players in the ECC with her 19 goals, second in the ECC only to Daemen's Jamie Boyar, and two assists and 40 points. Junior midfielder/forward Nara DaCosta is also a valuable player for the Purple Knights with her 10 goals, fifth in the ECC, and three assists. Junior goalkeeper Jennifer Wendelius leads Bridgeport from the back with the fourth-most saves in the ECC (82). Bridgeport's only ECC loss this season came against second ranked Mercy.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
Series Record: 1-5
Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: Oct. 6, 2018 | Bridgeport 5, Daemen 0 | Bridgeport, CT

UP NEXT
A Daemen win on Tuesday will place the Wildcats in the ECC Championship finals against the winner of #2 Mercy vs. #3 LIU Post.

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Players Mentioned

#23 Jamie Boyar: F; 5' 2"; Sophomore

#9 Sarah Britton: M; 5' 6"; Redshirt Junior

#22 Monique Green: D; 5' 8"; Junior

#7 Alex Valenti: D; 5' 4"; Junior

#17 Celia de Pablo Esteban: M; 5' 6"; Freshman

#35 Maddie Flores: GK; 5' 8"; Freshman

#31 Katja Meyer: M/F; 5' 10"; Freshman

#0 Katelin White: GK; 5' 4"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#23 Jamie Boyar
: 5' 2"; Sophomore
: F

#9 Sarah Britton
: 5' 6"; Redshirt Junior
: M

#22 Monique Green
: 5' 8"; Junior
: D

#7 Alex Valenti
: 5' 4"; Junior
: D

#17 Celia de Pablo Esteban
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: M

#35 Maddie Flores
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: GK

#31 Katja Meyer
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: M/F

#0 Katelin White
: 5' 4"; Freshman
: GK