GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #9
Daemen Wildcats (6-0-2, 0-0-1 ECC) vs. Bridgeport Purple Knights (3-4-1, 2-0-0 ECC)
Saturday, Oct. 5 | 11 a.m.
Amherst, N.Y. | Karrer Field
Live Stats
Live Streaming Video (via ECC Network)
FREE KICK
Daemen wraps up its longest homestand of the season with a big East Coast Conference game Saturday as they welcome defending conference and national champion Bridgeport to Karrer Field. The Wildcats will be looking to extend their program-record eight-game unbeaten streak. Bridgeport comes in unbeaten in their last four games (3-0-1) after starting the year with four straight defeats against a difficult schedule. The teams met twice last season with Bridgeport scoring a pair of wins, including a 4-0 final to eliminate Daemen from their first-ever ECC Championships appearance. A victory Saturday would give the Wildcats back-to-back defeats of teams picked to finish first and second in the ECC this season, according to the preseason coaches' poll. Daemen defeated regionally-ranked Mercy in a tight 1-0 game at Karrer Field last Saturday.
HISTORIC START
At 6-0-2, Daemen is off to the best start in program history, and they've done so in dominating fashion. The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 28-5 while recording four shutouts. They presently rank second in the ECC in total goals, goals per game (3.50) and goals against average (0.59). Their +23 goal differential leads the league. The Wildcats' early season success included a shutout streak that reached 229 minutes to start the season before Le Moyne pushed one over the goal line on Sept. 11. It has also included 7-0 wins over Urbana and Nyack, marking the first time since 2011 that they've scored at least seven goals twice in the same season. The Wildcats' five-game winning streak to start the season marked just the fourth streak of its length in the 20-year history of the program. Their 1-0 win over regionally-ranked Mercy on Sept. 28 extended their unbeaten streak to eight straight games, matching the longest such streak in program history which had been accomplished only once before, during the 2011 season.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T FIND OUT WHAT IT MEANS TO ME
When the Wildcats take the field Saturday they'll do so for the first time as a regionally-ranked team at the Division II level. The Wildcats come in at No. 10 in this week's United Soccer Coaches East Region poll, and they are one of only two ECC teams included (also Mercy at No. 5). Daemen enters the October portion of its schedule as one of two teams in the region to not suffer a defeat so far this season. The other is St. Rose, the top-ranked team in this week's poll, which sits at 7-0-1. Daemen visits St. Rose on Oct. 19.
PROTECT PARK
Saturday's game comes at Karrer Field on the campus of The Park School of Buffalo where Daemen is 14-5-3 since the start of the 2017 season. Daemen is unbeaten (8-0-2) in their last 10 home games, a streak that dates back to September of 2018. In five home games this season, the Wildcats are outscoring opponents 20-3.
HIGH HOPES
Expectations are high for the Wildcats, as they return several key players from last year's team that posted an 8-8-1 overall record and made its first-ever appearance in the East Coast Conference Tournament after placing fourth in the final regular-season standings with a 5-4-0 league mark. The five league wins were the most for the Wildcats since joining the ECC in 2013. Daemen was picked third in the 2019 ECC preseason poll.
OH DANNY BOY
Head coach Dan Dolan returns to the Wildcats for his 11th season in 2019. Since taking over the program in 2009, Dolan has led Daemen to a 94-86-10 record, establishing himself as the program's all-time winningest coach. Last fall Dolan led the Wildcats to their first-ever appearance in the ECC Championship Tournament. He also led 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.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2019
Daemen returns 13 players from its 2018 roster, eight of whom started at least 10 games. That group is undoubtedly headlined by senior forward Jamie Boyar, a first-team All-ECC and second-team All-East Region selection last season when she tallied 43 points and a program-record 20 goals. Boyar figures to have plenty of help from fellow senior captains Lindsay Ciaramella and Sarah Kenny both of whom play integral roles in the midfield. Junior Katja Meyer also returns after posting four goals and 11 points a season ago. The Wildcats will be tasked early on with replacing the production of departed midfielder Celia de Pablo Esteban who led the ECC in assists (14) last season. Junior Sam D'Agostino will head up the backline following the graduation of defenders Monique Green and Alex Valenti. D'Agostino has started 31 of a possible 34 games during her career and earned third-team All-ECC honors last fall. Redshirt senior Erin Egan joins the team after spending the last four years as a member of the women's basketball team. Junior Maddie Flores returns after starting 12 games in goal last year and posting a 2.00 goals against average and two shutouts.
A SEASON TO REMEMBER
Jamie Boyar turned in a season to remember last fall. She scored 20 goals and registered 43 points, finishing the regular season as the ECC leader in both. She finished the year ranked eighth nationally in goals and 16th nationally in points. Her goal total established a new team record for a single season, surpassing Kim Walker's mark of 19 set in 2005. Boyar netted the game-winning goal in five of Daemen's eight wins last year. She scored five goals in a 9-1 win against Lincoln, the most tallies of any player in the country during a single game last season. Daemen was 8-2 last season when Boyar scored at least one goal.
BEND IT LIKE BOYAR
Jamie Boyar has gotten off to a fast start in 2019, recording 11 goals and 23 total points over Daemen's first eight games. She scored in all five games of Daemen's season-opening winning streak, the longest consecutive scoring streak of her career. It included four multi-goal games as she's placed herself among the ECC and national leaders in both goals and points, and twice been named the ECC Offensive Player of the Week. She's reached several milestones, including her 40th career goal and 100th career point, with still more on the horizon. She reached the century mark for points as part of three-goal performance vs. Nyack on Sept. 18, becoming just the third player in program history to do so. Her goal on Sept. 25 vs. Davis & Elkins - the 48th of her career - pushed her career point total to 107, surpassing Samantha Engel for second in team history. Daemen is now 22-5-2 when Boyar scores at least one goal, and 13-0 when she scores multiple times. She has started all 58 games since the start of the 2016 season, and stands just six goals shy of Kim Walker's program record (54) established from 2003-06.
HEY ROOKIE
Alyssa Mercado has twice been named the ECC Rookie of the Week this season as the freshman forward from California has made an immediate impact for the Wildcats. Mercado totaled two goals and two assists during the opening week of the season, helping Daemen to decisive wins over Urbana and Mansfield. She became the first Daemen freshman to score in consecutive games since Jamie Boyar did so in 2016. Mercado went on to notch the lone goal in Daemen's 1-0 win over regionally-ranked Mercy on Sept. 28. She's just the third freshman in Daemen's ECC era (2013-present) to score at least three goals in a season.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Junior Maddie Flores has made seven starts so far this season, posting a 5-0-2 record with a career-high three shutouts. She presently ranks second in saves (42), save percentage (.894) and goals against average (0.67) among the ECC leaders. She was named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week for Sept. 16-22 after making a combined 13 saves in games against Nyack and New York Tech. Flores is 14-7-3 while making 26 appearances in her career. She's one win shy of matching her career-high for a single season which she set last year.
SAYING GRACE
Sophomore midfielder Grace Stranahan has registered four goals, three assists and 11 points through the first eight games this season, already eclipsing her goal and point totals from her freshman season when she made 14 appearances and five starts. With goals against Urbana, Mansfield and Le Moyne, she became the first Daemen player other than Jamie Boyar to score in three successive games since both Meghan Lipinoga and Kacey Bougard did so late in the 2013 season. She currently ranks fifth among the ECC leaders in points.
FOREIGN SUBSTANCE
The Wildcats have gotten strong play in the midfield from the likes of seniors Lindsay Ciaramella and Sarah Kenny. The Canadian-born Ciaramella leads the team and ranks second in the ECC with five assists thus far. She's the first Daemen player in recent memory to record an assist in five straight games, and scored the game-tying goal in a 1-1 tie at New York Tech on Sept. 21. Kenny, an Australian native, has already set career-highs for assists (4) and points (6) while starting all eight contests this season.
KAT'S MEOW
Junior defender Katja Meyer has netted three goals for the Wildcats this season, including the game-winning goal in the Wildcats' 3-1 defeat of Le Moyne on Sept. 11. It marked the second game-winning goal for Meyer who has proven to be a clutch player for the Wildcats over the last two seasons. Meyer's previous game-winning goal came Sept. 29, 2018 when she scored in the final minute of regulation to lift Daemen to a 2-1 defeat of New York Tech. Meyer has appeared in 37 games and made 20 starts over her three-year career, totaling seven goals, five assists and 19 points. She posted the first multi-goal game of her career with a pair of tallies in Daemen's 7-0 win over Nyack on Sept. 18.
HANES HER WAY
It didn't take long for junior midfielder Sam Hanes to make an impact once she returned to the lineup. Hanes, who missed the first two games this season while recovering from an injury, recorded a goal and an assist in Daemen's win over Goldey-Beacom on Sept. 14. It marked Hanes' first goal since the 2018 regular season finale at Chestnut Hill, and she became the eighth Daemen player to find the back of the net in 2019. She also became the sixth Daemen player this season to have a goal and an assist in the same game. Hanes has appeared in and started 40 games in her career, totaling six goals, four assists and 16 points in those contests.
FROM THE HARDWOOD TO THE PITCH
Erin Egan is the latest player to successfully transition to soccer after completing a four-year career with the Daemen women's basketball team. She is the third player to crossover during the 11-year tenure of head coach Dan Dolan, joining former Wildcats Lindsay Stoddard and Leah McDonell. The early returns have all been positive as Egan has made an immediate impact with two goals, four assists and eight points thus far. She scored her first career goal during Daemen's 7-0 win over Nyack on Sept. 18, and found the back of the net again a week later vs. Davis & Elkins. Her journey from All-ECC basketball player to starting forward on the pitch was recently documented in a feature story for WKBW-Channel 7.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Daemen's fast start to the 2019 season has been fueled by several players who find themselves among the national statistic leaders. Senior forward Jamie Boyar heads into the weekend as the national leader in game-winning goals this season with four. She also ranks second in total goals (11), fourth in goals per game (1.38), fifth in total points (23) and ninth in points per game (2.88). Senior midfielder Lindsay Ciaramella ranks second in the ECC and 13th nationally with five assists so far this season. Erin Egan and Sarah Kenny are right behind as both have registered three assists, good for 22nd in the country. The spotlight isn't exclusive to the offensive end as goalkeeper Maddie Flores ranks 26th in save percentage (.889).
BRIDGEPORT SCOUTING REPORT
Bridgeport has long been one of the top programs in the ECC and NCAA Division II East Region, but their stature has risen even higher since capturing the 2018 national championship. The Purple Knights won their final nine games of the season, culminating in a 1-0 defeat of Grand Valley State on Dec. 1. It is the crowning achievement for a program that's won three regional championships since 2015, and for head coach Magnus Nilerud who has guided the Purple Knights to a 278-118-24 record in his 21 seasons of work. Fourteen players return to fold, none more impressive than forward Maegen Doyle, the 2018 Division II National Player of the Year. She led the ECC in goals (28) and points (59) last season, and has picked up where she left off with an NCAA Division II-leading 12 goals this season. She scored four times in a 15-0 trouncing of Lincoln last week. Fellow returners Nara DaCosta and Lara Heather have produced three goals apiece to compliment Doyle this season. The Purple Knights have turned to a pair of freshmen to handle their goalkeeping duties as Claudia Torres and Helena Dahlstrom have combined on a .579 save percentage thus far. UB opened with a difficult four-game stretch and dropped each one, including a 5-3 loss to nationally-ranked Southern New Hampshire and a pair of one-goal defeats on the road against Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State. They'll enter Saturday's showdown with Daemen unbeaten in their last four games (3-0-1), and they're coming off a 2-2 tie at Franklin Pierce earlier this week. Buoyed by that 15-goal outburst vs. Lincoln, the Purple Knights rank third nationally in scoring offense, averaging 3.88 goals per game.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. BRIDGEPORT
Series Record: 1-6
Streak: Lost 2
Last Meeting: Bridgeport 4, Daemen 0 | Oct. 30, 2018 | at Bridgeport, Conn. | ECC Championship Semifinals
SPOTLIGHT ON: DAEMEN UPSETS BRIDGEPORT IN 2017
When Daemen and Bridgeport meet Saturday the Wildcats will be looking for some of the magic they had during UB's last trip to Karrer Field. On Oct. 14, 2017, Jamie Boyar scored a pair of second-half goals and freshman goalkeeper Katelin White made nine saves to lift the Wildcats to a 2-0 victory over the Purple Knights, then ranked No. 9 in the East Region.
SPOTLIGHT ON: BOYAR & DOYLE
It's not often that two of the top scorers in Division II meet, but that's exactly the scenario Saturday with Daemen's Jamie Boyar and Bridgeport's Maegen Doyle. The duo has combined for 23 goals this season - Doyle's 12 lead the country with Boyar nipping at her heels with 11. With 52 goals in 49 career games, Doyle ranks second in the country among active Division II players for career goal-scoring. Boyar ranks third with 48 goals in 58 career games.
UP NEXT
Daemen opens a string of four straight road games next Wednesday, Oct. 9 when they visit Shepherd for a non-conference contest.
