DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – The end of the journey with a bright future ahead.
Despite making their first East Coast Conference Tournament appearance since 2018, the Daemen women's soccer program saw its 2021 campaign come to a close in a 2-0 defeat against the Mercy Mavericks at Mercy Field Thursday afternoon.
Similar to their first encounter just 12 days ago (1-0 Mercy win on Oct. 30), a second half goal turned out be enough for the Mavericks to gallop their way to Sunday's championship game to face the winner of Thursday's other semifinal between Roberts Wesleyan and top-seeded Molloy.
After a scoreless first half, the Mavericks found the right opportunity. With plenty of traffic in front of the Daemen net, Mercy's Kayla Camacho received a pass from Marlene Avalos and fired a shot into the open right corner of the net in the 58th minute to give her Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
With the loss, Daemen finished with a 9-6-1 overall record and went 8-3-1 over their last 12 games. This was Daemen's first conference tournament appearance since 2018 (4-0 loss at Bridgeport, Oct. 30, 2018.)
With the victory, Mercy improves to 10-3-4 overall, won their fourth straight contest heading into Sunday's title game and are 7-2-2 over their last 11 games.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Mercy started the contest off with a bang as back-to-back shots from Camacho and Avalos at the 1:50 mark were denied by DeLappi. Despite a few missed crosses, the Daemen offense was stymied as the Mavericks kept control of the game in the midfield and Daemen defensive zones. Daemen did record their first corner of the contest in the 34th minute but the attempt went right to Torres. The score remained 0-0 at the halftime break, only the third time to happen in a Wildcats contest this season.
- Shortly after Grace Stranahan (Grand Island, N.Y.) had her shot blocked by a Mercy defender, the Mavericks struck first. With plenty of traffic in front of DeLappi, Camacho fired a shot through traffic and found the open right corner of the net. With Avalos on the assist, Mercy led 1-0. Daemen had a chance to respond as Sam Hanes (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) recorded a right-side shot stopped by Torres, one of Daemen's best scoring chances of the entire contest. A heads-up play by Madita Zeitz (Malsch, Germany) prevented Camacho's interception in the Mercy defensive zone from going nearly the whole length of the field and scoring her second goal of the game in the 67th minute. Then, in the 84th minute, Claudia McKail put the final nail in the coffin by scoring off a free kick to give Mercy the 2-0 final score.
- Mercy outgained Daemen in shots on goal, 8-1, and overall shots (11-2.) Mercy also finished with an advantage in corner kicks, 7-1.
- Hanes' lone shot on goal at the 59:39 mark marked Daemen's fewest in a contest this season and their lowest tally since recording two in what turned out to be a season-changing 3-1 loss at St. Anselm on Sept. 15.
- In her 16th start of the season and 20th of her Daemen career, junior goalkeeper Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) recorded six saves in today's loss. Her counterpart, Melissa Torres recorded one save to earn her seventh shutout of the season. As of today, Mercy has allowed only 10 goals this season, the second fewest among ECC teams behind Molloy (8.) Five of these goals were scored over the last six contests.
GAME NOTES
- Today was the ninth all-time meeting between Daemen and Mercy – the first since a 1-0 Mavericks victory on Oct. 30 in ECC regular season play. Mercy leads the all-times series now, 8-1-0, with five wins earned at Mercy Field.
- Since midfielder Grace Stranahan scored in the second half of a 3-1 loss at St. Anselm on Sept. 15, Daemen finished the season outscoring their opponents, 32-13, and allowed 13 goals over the last 13 contests.
- Daemen finished the 2021 campaign having netted 34 goals from 12 different players and 13 players recorded at least one point (team total of 95 points).
- With a 9-6-1 overall record in 2021, Daemen women's soccer finished with a winning season for the third time in the program's NCAA era (2015 – present.) The previous two times came in 2017 (9-7-1) and 2019 (11-4-3.) This is also Daemen's sixth winning season since Dan Dolan took over the program in 2009.
- Daemen also finished ECC league play in 2021 with a 7-1-1 record. The seven conference wins are the most for the Wildcats since they posted an 11-1 mark in 2011 - the program's final season as a member of the now-defunct American Mideast Conference.
- Today marked the final game in the careers of midfielder Sam Hanes (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) and defender Katja Meyer (Verona, N.Y.). In 64 games (43 starts), Hanes recorded seven career goals and eight career assists (22 points.) In 67 games (48 starts), Meyer recorded nine career goals and seven career assists (25 points.) Since they arrived on campus in the fall of 2017, Meyer and Hanes helped the Wildcats to a 39-27-6 record, two ECC tournament berths (2018, 2021) and an NCAA tournament berth (2019.)
- Goalkeeper Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) started all 16 contests for the Wildcats this season. The junior finished with a 9-6-1 record, a 1.28 goals against average and a .789 save percentage. DeLappi also stands with 11 career wins at the end of the season, joining former teammate Maddie Flores as the only goalkeepers to record 10+ wins in a career in Daemen's NCAA era (2015 – present.)
- Junior forward and Division I Buffalo transfer Tatyjana Scalisi (Williamsville, N.Y.) recorded a team-high seven goals in her first season with Daemen, the fourth most goals among ECC players. Scalisi was also the first ECC player to reach double-figure points this season and finished with a team-high 19 points. Scalisi also recorded at least one point in six of Daemen's last 12 games this season.
- Two-time ECC Rookie of the Week and forward Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.) wrapped up her freshman campaign with six goals and 16 points this season. Heading into Thursday, Diaz ranked in the top five for both categories among the ECC leaders. Diaz recorded the most goals and points for a Daemen freshman since Jamie Boyar netted six goals and recorded 16 points in 2016. has totaled six goals and 16 points this season. Diaz was also one of four Daemen players this season (Scalisi, Faye Panagopoulos, Brooke Amato) to finish
- Senior midfielder Grace Stranahan (Grand Island, N.Y.) set two milestones this season. She scored her 10th career against Roberts Wesleyan on Sept. 29 and became the third player in Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015 – present) to score at least 10 career goals (Meghan Lipinoga, Jamie Boyar.) Stranahan then recorded her 10th career assist in Daemen's victory against Clarion on Oct. 26. She joined former players Celina de Pablo Esteban (17 assists) and Lindsay Ciaramella (14 assists) along with Boyar (11 assists) as the fourth player in Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015 – present) to record at least 10 career assists. Stranahan ends the 2021 season with 10 goals, 10 assists and 30 points in 52 games (41 starts.)
- Daemen returned 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.)
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.
Print Friendly Version
