GAME INFORMATION & LINKS
Game #17
Daemen Wildcats (10-3-3, 3-2-2 ECC) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans (2-12-2, 1-4-2 ECC)
Saturday, Nov. 9 | 12 p.m.
Sparkill, N.Y. | Spartan Soccer Field
Live Streaming Video (via ECC Network)
Live Stats
FREE KICK
Daemen closes out the 2019 season with an East Coast Conference match at St. Thomas Aquinas College Saturday (Nov. 9).The Wildcats have posted their first 10-win season since 2013, and have established a team record for shutouts in a season with eight. Senior forward Jamie Boyar takes 53 career goals into Saturday's regular-season finale. She stands one goal shy of the program record for career goals (54) established by Kim Walker from 2003-06.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Daemen enters the final weekend of the regular season sitting in fifth place in the ECC standings, one point back of fourth-place Molloy (11-4-1, 4-3-0 ECC). The top four teams in the final conference standings will advance to the ECC Championships. The Wildcats need a win Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas, plus a Molloy loss or tie at Queens on Saturday. The four team tournament will get underway Nov. 14 with two semifinal games. The two semifinal winners will meet on Sunday, Nov. 17 for the league championship. Daemen made its first-ever appearance in the ECC Tournament last fall.
HISTORIC START
Daemen got off to the best start in program history by going 8-1-2 over their first 11 contests. The Wildcats rattled off five straight wins at the season's outset, including 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 program history as they outscored those opponents 24-2. 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. Daemen has won eight games for the third straight season. It marks the second time in program history they've achieved at least eight wins in three successive seasons. The Wildcats have posted 10 wins for the first time since the 2013 season when they finished 10-10-0.
REGIONAL RANKINGS
Daemen was ranked 10th in the first official NCAA Division II East Region poll released last week by the Regional Advisory Committee. It marks the first time since transitioning to Division II that Daemen has been included in the official regional rankings which are used to determine NCAA tournament bids. The Wildcats were also ranked in the United Soccer Coaches East Region poll for four-straight weeks earlier this year. Daemen made its first-ever appearance in the USC poll after going 6-0-2 over their first eight games.
CLOSE CALLS
Close contests have been the norm over the last several weeks for the Wildcats. Since their 7-0 blowout of Nyack on Sept. 18, the Wildcats are 5-3-3 with five of the eight non-ties being decided by a single goal. There was a stretch of five straight games being decided by one goal, which marks the first time that has happened in the 20-year history of the program.
HIGH HOPES
Expectations were high for the Wildcats in 2019, as they returned 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 98-89-11 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.
BEND IT LIKE BOYAR
After setting the program record with 20 goals in 2018, Jamie Boyar has picked up right where she left off. The senior forward leads Daemen in goals (16) and points (33) this season, placing herself among the conference and national leaders in each. She ranks third in the conference and 10th nationally in goals, and third in the conference and 25th nationally in points. She scored goals 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 leading to a pair of selections as the ECC Offensive Player of the Week. She's reached several milestones along the way, including her 40th and 50th career goals and 100th career point. She reached the century mark for points as part of a 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 pushed her career point total to 107, surpassing Samantha Engel for second in team history. She became just the second player in program history to reach the 50-goal plateau with her tally Oct. 14 at Molloy. Daemen is now 25-7-2 when Boyar scores at least one goal, and 13-0 when she scores multiple times. She has started all 66 games since the start of the 2016 season and has totaled 53 goals and 117 points. She stands just one goal shy of Kim Walker's program record for career goals (54) established from 2003-06.
HEY ROOKIE
Alyssa Mercado was named ECC Rookie of the Week this past Monday, marking the third time this season she has collected the honor. She is tied with Morgan Razzano of Roberts Wesleyan for the most ECC Rookie of the Week selections this season. 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 has totaled four goals and 11 points this year and is 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 14 starts so far this season, posting a 8-3-3 record with a career-high six solo shutouts. She has posted a new career-high for wins in a season and her six shutouts are the most by a Daemen net minder since Kayla Hampton posted six during the 2012 season. Flores presently ranks second in save percentage (.867) and shutouts (6) and third in total saves (72) and goals against average (0.78) 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 17-10-4 with 10 shutouts while making 33 appearances in her career.
SAYING GRACE
Sophomore midfielder Grace Stranahan has registered six goals, five assists and 17 points 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 scored a goal and added an assist in a 2-1 win over Shepherd on Oct. 9, marking her third game this season with at least three points. She currently ranks seventh among the ECC leaders in goals, fifth in assists and sixth 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 in assists (7), ranking fourth among all ECC players. 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 (8) while starting all 16 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 45 games and made 28 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.
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. Egan has made an immediate impact with four goals, five assists and 13 points. 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. She registered her first multi-goal game during a 7-0 win over Lincoln last weekend. Her journey from All-ECC basketball player to starting forward on the pitch was recently documented in a feature story for WKBW-Channel 7.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SCOUTING REPORT
STAC is led by veteran head coach Graham Brown. The Spartans posted an 9-6-1 overall record and a 3-5-1 mark in the ECC last year. The Spartans were picked seventh in the ECC preseason poll. STAC went winless (0-10-1) over their its first 11 games this year, before posting a 9-1 win over Lincoln on Oct. 19. The Spartans recorded their second win of the year last weekend over Nyack (4-0) and are coming off a 1-0 loss at Pace on Tuesday. Junior Mekenzi Moreau has scored five of the team's 16 goals. She netted a hat trick in the win over Nyack. Seniors Maya LaFleur (2 gls, 2 asts) and Victoria DiMarco (2 gas 1 ast) have also produced. Freshman goalkeeper Colleen Stevens (1.71 GAA) has appeared in 14 games and made a season-high eight saves in a 5-1 loss to Bridgeport.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. STAC
Series Record: 4-2-1
Streak: L 1
Last Meeting: STAC 2, Daemen 1 | Sept. 8, 2018 | at Amherst, N.Y.
