Game #14
Daemen Wildcats (8-4-1, 6-0-1 ECC) vs Mercy Mavericks (7-3-4, 6-1-0 ECC)
DATE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30
TIME: 11 a.m.
LOCATION: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. / Mercy Field
LIVE STREAMING: Via ECC Sports Network
LIVE STATS: Via Mercy Athletics
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. BACK IN ACTION
Daemen resumes their 2021 campaign when they host the Mercy Mavericks in an East Coast Conference matchup at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mercy Field on the campus of Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. This will be the eighth all-time meeting between the programs, the first since Daemen's 1-0 victory on Sept. 28, 2019 at Karrer Field. Mercy leads the all-time series, 6-1-0, with three wins recorded at Mercy Field. This will be Daemen's first contest since a 2-1 non-conference victory against Clarion on Oct. 26 at Williamsville South High School. The contest remained scoreless until the 40th minute when sophomore forward
Brooke Amato (Grand Island, N.Y.) scored her fifth goal of the season off an assist from senior midfielder
Grace Stranahan (Grand Island, N.Y.), giving Daemen a 1-0 lead at the break. Veteran forward
Katja Meyer (Verona, N.Y.) gave Daemen a two-goal lead in the 71st minute after receiving a solid feed from freshman defender
Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.) This marked Meyer's second goal of the season and ninth in her Daemen career. Junior goalkeeper
Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) recorded one save in her third shutout of the 2021 campaign. DeLappi also recorded her 10th overall victory in her Daemen career. Daemen enters at the top of the ECC standings (6-0-1) and 8-4-1 overall and are 7-1-1 in their last nine contests. The Wildcats also received recognition on a national level prior to the contest's start. Daemen was ranked No. 10 in the latest
United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II East Region poll for a second consecutive week. Daemen is one of three East Coast Conference teams to place a spot on this week's rankings (Molloy at No. 3, Mercy at No. 9.) A victory against Mercy Saturday would secure a top-two seed and at least one home contest for Daemen women's soccer in next month's ECC Tournament. Daemen previously punched their ticket for the four-team tournament following Mercy's win over Queens on Oct. 22.
2. MILESTONE MANIA
Through the first 13 contests in 2021, Daemen has netted 32 goals from 12 different players and 13 players have recorded at least one point (team total of 89.) Since senior midfielder
Grace Stranahan (Grand Island, N.Y.) scored in the 54th minute of Daemen's 3-1 loss at St. Anselm on Sept. 15, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents, 30-9, and have allowed only nine goals over the last 10 contests.
The strong play of junior goalkeeper
Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) has been a major factor for Daemen's strong play over the past few weeks as she has started all 13 contests in 2021. DeLappi enters Saturday with an 8-4-1 record, a 1.26 GAA (fourth best in ECC) and an .800 save percentage (third best in ECC.) DeLappi recorded her 10th career victory as a Daemen goalkeeper in Daemen's 2-1 victory over Clarion on Oct. 26.
The ECC Defensive Player of the Week for games played Oct. 18-24, DeLappi now joins former teammate
Maddie Flores (20 career wins) as the only goalkeepers to record 10+ wins for the Wildcats in the program's NCAA era (2015 – present.)
Leading the way offensively is junior forward
Tatyjana Scalisi (Williamsville, N.Y.) The Division I Buffalo transfer, as of Oct. 28, has recorded the second most goals among ECC players this fall with seven tallies. Scalisi was also the first ECC player to reach double-figure points with 19, which paces all Daemen players and is the second highest total among all conference players. Scalisi enters Saturday's contest having recorded at least one point in six of the last nine games.
By scoring in the 40th minute against Clarion on Oct. 26, sophomore forward
Brooke Amato (Grand Island, N.Y.) recorded her fifth goal in 2021 and has scored in consecutive appearances. The goal surpasses her four-goal mark she set as a freshman in the unorthodox season. Through just 11 games of her Wildcat career, Amato has now recorded nine goals (19 total points) and is one goal from joining Daemen's "10 Goal Club" (
Grace Stranahan and Meghan Lipinoga, 10; Jamie Boyar, 55) in the program's NCAA era (2015 – present.) By scoring in the 71st minute in her 64th career appearance and 45th career start, veteran forward
Katja Meyer (Verona, N.Y.) recorded the ninth goal of her Daemen career. Like Amato, Meyer is one goal away from joining Daemen's "10 Goal Club."
By scoring in a 2-2 draw at Bridgeport on Oct. 16, freshman defender
Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.) recorded her fourth goal of the season and was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for women's soccer
for games played Oct. 11-16. Diaz enters Saturday with 13 points on the season and is now in a three-way tie for fifth most among ECC players. Diaz also joins Scalisi,
Faye Panagopoulos (Kenmore, N.Y.) and
Brooke Amato (Grand Island, N.Y.) to reach double-digits in total points among Daemen players. With the four goals, Diaz is now tied with Amato plus former players Celina de Pablo Esteban (2017) and
Alyssa Mercado (2019) for the second most goals scored by a freshman in the program's NCAA era (2015 – present.) The program's all-time scorer, Jamie Boyar, scored a program-best six goals in her freshman campaign in 2016.
By scoring in that same contest against Bridgeport,
Sam Hanes (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) recorded her first goal of the season and was named the ECC Offensive Player of the Week for women's soccer
for games played Oct. 11-16. The draw against the Purple Knights was her first three-point outing since her one-goal, one-assist performance in a 3-1 victory versus Goldey-Beacom on Sept. 14, 2019. Including her assist in the following contest against Staten Island (Oct. 23), Hanes has now recorded seven goals and eight assists (22 total points) while wearing the blue-and-white.
By scoring against St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 9, Panagopoulos now has seven goals for her Daemen career. The forward already joins current teammates Amato, Hanes, Stranahan and Meyer to score at least five goals during their time at Daemen.
By scoring against Roberts Wesleyan on Sept. 29, this was the 10th career goal in Stranahan's career. She became the third player in Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015 – present) to score at least 10 career goals (Meghan Lipinoga, 10; Jamie Boyar, 55). Stranahan had netted a career-high six goals and totaled 17 points during the 2019 season. Through 49 appearances, Stranahan has recorded 10 goals and 29 points.
3. RETURNING VETERANS
Daemen returns 17 players who were on the roster for the unorthodox 2020-21 academic year, including 10 who were part of the Wildcats' NCAA tournament team in 2019 when they finished 11-4-3 – the best season in the program's NCAA era (2015 – present.)
Brooke Amato (Grand Island, N.Y.) wrapped up her freshman campaign as the team leader in goals (4) and points (8.) Team MVP
Nicole Grichen (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) and incumbent starters
Katja Meyer (Verona, N.Y.),
Julia Eichel (Grand Island, N.Y.),
Sam Hanes (North Tonawanda, N.Y.),
Grace Stranahan (Grand Island, N.Y.),
Tatyjana Scalisi (Williamsville, N.Y.) and
Madita Zeitz (Malsch, Germany) also return. Goalkeeper
Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) made two starts and three appearances this past spring between the pipes and recorded a 1.00 GAA and a .857 save percentage.
4. CONFERENCE PLAY COMMENCES
For the first time in two years, all East Coast Conference members in women's soccer will return to conference play this fall. Daemen women's soccer has been picked to finish fourth in ECC play this season, according to the league's preseason poll which was released on August 27. Daemen earned 63 total points following their abbreviated spring season. Following Mercy's victory over Queens on Oct. 22, Daemen clinched a spot in the upcoming ECC Tournament. This is Daemen's second conference tournament appearance since gaining full NCAA Division II membership in 2015. With a victory over Mercy Saturday, Daemen women's soccer would secure a top-two seed and at least one home contest in the upcoming ECC Tournament. As of Oct. 28, Daemen stands at the top of the ECC standings with a 6-0-1, the only unbeaten team remaining in conference play. Molloy and Mercy are still tied for second place with a 6-1-0 record. Roberts Wesleyan rounds out the top four at 4-3-0. The ECC Tournament will feature the top four teams in the final regular season standings with the No. 1 and 2 seeds hosting semifinal games on Thursday, November 11; the highest remaining seed hosts the tournament finals on Sunday, November 14.
5. ON THE HORIZON
Daemen concludes their regular season slate in 2021 hosting ECC opponent, Queens, for their Senior Day game on Saturday, November 6 at 11 AM at Karrer Field in Amherst, N.Y.
MERCY SCOUTING REPORT
Mercy College is a member of the East Coast Conference. The Mavericks saw their 2020 season cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Their season-opening 1-0 victory over Southern Connecticut State on Sept. 3 was the program's first game action in 647 days. The Mavericks enter Saturday's contest with a 7-3-4 overall record and 6-1-0 in ECC play. This will be Mercy's first game action since a 3-1 victory over Queens on Oct. 22 and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 contests. Mercy is led by third-year head coach Danny Leon Jr. Leon Jr. led the Mavericks to a 13-3-4 finish in his first season (2019), a season that ended with the program's third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. As a program, Mercy has made five NCAA Tournament appearances since 2013 and have made the ECC Tournament in seven straight seasons. Leon Jr. was previously an assistant coach with the women's program for four seasons, including Mercy's run to the Final Four in 2017. Leon Jr. also was a four-year member of Mercy's men's soccer team, appearing in 68 games and contributing 14 goals and 10 assists. The Mavericks return 10 players from the 2019 team. Senior defender Sydney Cooper was named Third Team All-Region and First Team All-ECC in 2019 after a four-goal season and now has four points in 2021 (one goal, two assists.) Graduate student midfielder Nikki Bermudez leads the Mavericks with five goals and 11 points while senior midfielder Claudia McKail has contributed three goals and eight points. Collectively, Mercy has recorded 29 goals and 81 points so far in 2021. In net, graduate student and the ECC Goalkeeper of the Year, Melissa Torres, has started in 12 contests, posting a 7-3-4 record, an 0.56 GAA and a .825 save percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MERCY
Series Record: Mercy 6-1-0
At Mercy: Mercy 3-0-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 1, Mercy 0 | September 28, 2019 | at Amherst, N.Y.
