Daemen Women's Soccer selects captains for 2020-21 season

9/17/2020 1:14:00 PM

By: By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen College women's soccer coach Dan Dolan announced today that seniors Sam D'Agostino (Mississauga, Ont.) and Katja Meyer (Verona, N.Y.) will serve as captains for the 2020-21 season.

"Communication is a foundation of our program," Dolan said in a recent interview for Wildcat Weekly. "I mean, communication is a big thing. Not just, you know, not just coaching staff to players, but players to players. I think that's a big one that comes from our leadership from me down. We've got a couple captains now in Sam D'Agostino and Katja Meyer, who will do a fantastic job taking over from our three captains last year. It's important that our leaders are reaching out to everyone on the team, everyone feels like we're a part of a team, everyone feels like we're a family."

Both starters in the first NCAA Tournament game in program history last November, D'Agostino and Meyer were major contributors to the team's 11-4-3 finish in 2019, their best since ascending to the NCAA Division II level in 2015. It also marked the Wildcats' first 10-win campaign since 2013 and best overall finish since 2012 when they went 11-9.

A two-time All-ECC selection, D'Agostino has been an anchor for the Wildcats' defensive unit the past three seasons. The Ontario native made 17 starts, helped the Wildcats' record a team-record eight shutouts and allow just 13 goals in the 2019 regular season. Named ECC Defensive Player of the Week for Sept. 23-29 following Daemen's 1-0 win over perennial ECC power Mercy, D'Agostino later earned the team's Wildcat Award for unsung contributions to their success. Over a three-year span, D'Agostino has played a role in 17 total shutouts and started 48 of Daemen's 52 games.

Also a starting defender for the Wildcats, Meyer once again showcased her ability as a two-way player with scoring touch in 2019. The Central N.Y. native finished last season with three goals, two assists and eight points in 17 starts. Meyer scored the game-winning in Daemen's 3-1 win at Le Moyne on Sept. 11 and posted the first multi-goal game of her career with a pair of tallies in a 7-0 rout of Nyack on Sept. 18. Also recording a career-best three-game point streak in 2019, Meyer played a season-high 95 minutes in a scoreless tie with Roberts Wesleyan on Oct. 26. Over a three-year span, Meyer has recorded seven goals and five assists (19 points) and started 29 of Daemen's 52 games.

The 2020-21 season, which has been delayed until after January 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will mark the 21st since the Daemen women's soccer program was re-introduced to the division of athletics in 2000. It will also mark their eighth season competing in the East Coast Conference and their sixth at the NCAA Division II level.

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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