AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's soccer team got early first half goals from juniors Tatyjana Scalisi (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Faye Panagopoulos (Kenmore, N.Y.) en route to a 2-1 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College today at Karrer Field. The host Wildcats remained unbeaten in East Coast Conference play (5-0-0) and improved to 6-4-0 overall. Daemen has now won five of its last six contests. STAC dropped to 3-6-0 overall and 2-3-0 in the ECC.

Daemen has now prevailed in six of the last eight meetings between the two schools, and the Wildcats now own a 6-2-1 advantage in the all-time series.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Daemen pressured the STAC net early and opened a 1-0 lead just 4:47 into the contest when Scalisi intercepted a clearing attempt by a STAC defender and sent a blast into the upper right corner of the net. It marked the team leading fifth goal of the year for the Williamsville South High School product.
• The Wildcats doubled their lead 19 minutes later. Junior midfielder Nicole Grichen (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) did a nice job securing a throw in at midfield and sent a pass up to freshman Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.). Diaz then chipped a perfect pass to a streaking Panagopoulos and the junior slotted a shot under the charging STAC netminder. It marked the fifth goal of the year for Panagopoulos, tying her for the team lead with Scalisi.
• Daemen took a 2-0 lead into the half, but the Spartans made things interesting when junior Amandajane Fuchs-White scored just 10:52 into the second half to cut the Daemen lead in half.
• The Daemen defense took over from there, holding the Spartans to just two total shots and no shots on goal the rest of the way.
• Junior Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) registered one save for the Wildcats, while junior Colleen Stevens stopped six shots for the Spartans.
   

GAME NOTES

• Daemen was picked fourth out of 10 teams in the preseason ECC poll, while STAC was picked sixth.
• Daemen posted an 11-4 edge in shots in the first half and finished with an 18-8 advantage overall. Daemen held an 8-2 edge in shots on goal.
• DeLappi has played all but 45 minutes in goal for the Wildcats so far this season and ranks third among the ECC leaders in goals against average (1.37).
• Scalisi has totaled a team-high 14 points and has recorded at least one point in four of the last six games. 
• Panagopoulos ranks second on the team in points (11) and has registered a point in three of the last six games.
• Scalisi and Panagopoulos are tied for second among the ECC leaders in goals (5) and Scalisi is tied for first among the league leaders in points (14).
• The Daemen defense allowed just two shots on goal today, which ties for the fewest allowed in a game this season. The Wildcats also surrendered just two shots on goal in a 3-1 win over D'Youville on Sept. 18.
• Daemen entered today's game tied atop the ECC standings with Mercy College (5-1-3, 4-0-0 ECC).
• 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.).
  

UP NEXT

The Wildcats return to action when they host Le Moyne College in a non-league tile on Wednesday (Oct. 13). Game time is 1 p.m. at Karrer Field.

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 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.

Follow the Daemen College women's soccer program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenWSOC.