Game #4
Daemen Wildcats (1-2-0, 0-0-0 ECC) vs D'Youville Saints (4-1-1, 0-0-0 ECC)
DATE: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
TIME: 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Buffalo, N.Y. / Dobson Field
LIVE STREAM: Via ECC Sports Network
LIVE STATS: Via D'Youville Athletics
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. BACK IN ACTION
Daemen continues their early season road trip and kicks off East Coast Conference play when they square off against D'Youville at 2:30 in Buffalo, N.Y. Piling up mileage will be an early theme for the Wildcats this season as six of their first seven contests are on the road. This is the fifth all-time meeting between the '716' programs and their first-ever meeting as conference foes. The teams did face each other once this past spring (2-1 Daemen win on April 30) as part of their independent schedules after the ECC canceled the 2020 fall season due to COVID-19 protocols. Daemen leads the all-time series, 4-0. This will be Daemen's first contest since a 1-0 loss at Slippery Rock on Sept. 11. Daemen was scheduled to face Le Moyne on Sept. 15 in non-conference play before the game was postponed with plans to be played at a future date. The Rock scored the lone goal of the contest just seven minutes into the game and dominated in both overall shots (20-6) and shots on goal (7-4.) Daemen senior goalkeeper
Marcos Lerma Escobar (Zaragoza, Spain) once again went the distance and recorded six saves while classmate Carlos Espana (Madrid, Spain) accounted for two of Daemen's four shots on goal. Heading into the contest against SRU, Daemen had won four of their last five contests dating back to the spring 2021 season.
2. VETERAN PRESENCE
Through the team's first three contests, the veterans of Daemen's men's soccer have provided scoring opportunities. Sophomore
Dennis Montero Guerrero (Weingarten, Germany) and juniors
Derek Bartlo (Williamsville, N.Y.) and
Trey Buscaglia (East Amherst, N.Y.) have combined for three goals and seven of Daemen's eight points. Montero Guerrero scored the team's lone goal in a season-opening 2-1 loss to Walsh on Sept. 2, his third career goal with the blue-and-white. Bartlo and Buscaglia both scored in Daemen's 2-1 victory over Malone on Sept. 4. When Bartlo scored in the 23rd minute, this was his first goal as a Wildcat since the program's 6-1 season-finale loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Nov. 9, 2019. Buscaglia then recorded his first career goal in the 27th minute along with his first two career assists.
3. RETURNING VETERANS
Expectations for Daemen men's soccer are high this fall as 26 players from their 2020-21 roster return, many of whom were key contributors for their 3-2-0 finish. Daemen had a balanced attack offensively as nine goals were scored by six different players – and all are returning this fall. Strikers
Dennis Montero Guerrero (Weingarten, Germany) and
Christian Lewin (Bobenheim-Roxheim, Germany) and defender/midfielder Michel Holscher (Hamminkeln, Germany) accounted for six of the team's nine goals. Midfielder
Anthony Cupello (Rochester, N.Y.) finished with a team-high three assists after missing the end of the 2018 season and all of the 2019 campaign while recovering from an injury. Rejoining the Daemen defensive unit is junior
Pontus Lundin (Asmundtorp, Sweden). The Swedish native made a combined 29 starts in 2018 and 2019, and led the team in goals (3) and points (6) during his sophomore campaign. Key veterans
Derek Mancuso (Friendship, N.Y.) and
Jarrett Lecceadone (Randolph, N.Y.) will both compete as graduate students this fall. Senior
Marcos Lerma Escobar (Zaragoza, Spain) joins Lecceadone as a returning goalkeeper. Lerma Escobar, who transferred from Medaille College in spring 2020, recorded his first victory with the blue-and-white when he recorded a career-high 12 saves in Daemen's 3-1 victory versus RWC on April 25.
4. CONFERENCE PLAY COMMENCES
For the first time in two years, all East Coast Conference members in men's soccer will return to conference play this fall. Daemen men's soccer team has been picked to finish ninth in the East Coast Conference this season according to the league's preseason poll which was released on August 26. Daemen earned 24 total points following their abbreviated season. As of Sept. 16, Mercy and Queens are tied atop the ECC standings with a 3-1-0 record and D'Youville is in third with their 4-1-1 record. St. Thomas Aquinas currently sits in fourth and Roberts Wesleyan rounds out the top five. Daemen is currently in sixth place with their 1-2-0 record. 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 Wednesday, Nov. 10; the highest remaining seed hosts the tournament finals on Saturday, Nov. 13.
5. ON THE HORIZON
Daemen continues their 2021 campaign with their long-awaited home opener when they host Mercyhurst in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 3:30 PM at Karrer Field. This marks Daemen's latest home opener since the 2012 season.
D'YOUVILLE SCOUTING REPORT
D'Youville is in its second year of a three-year transition period from Division III to Division II after years of membership in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and will become a full Division II and East Coast Conference member starting in 2023-24. The Saints played an independent schedule and finished with a 1-2 overall record during the 2020 season that was postponed to spring 2021 due to COVID-19 protocols. The Saints enter Saturday's contest with a 4-1-1 record and started the season rattling off four non-conference wins before a double-overtime scoreless tie at New Jersey City (Sept. 12) and a 6-0 loss at Bryant & Stratton – Syracuse (Sept. 14.) In their final year of competition at the Division III level in 2019, D'Youville finished with an 8-10 overall record – the program's most victories in a season since 2011. Now in his ninth season at the helm, head coach Brendan Murphy has posted a 29-91-8 record with the Saints. The Saints return 13 players in 2021, nine of which were also on the 2019 team. Reigning ECC Offensive Player of the Week and senior midfielder Nick Dumond recorded his second hat trick of the season in the first half as part of an eight-goal, two-assist performance in a 17-1 win versus Villa Maria on Sept. 8 and currently leads the ECC in goals (11), assists (4) and total points (26.) Freshman forward Luis Felipe Santos has scored five goals so far and sophomore Noah Steele has tallied four goals. Freshman goalkeeper Ethan Picard has started four of D'Youville's six contests so far and has posted a 3-0-1 record, a shutout, a 0.51 GAA, and a .818 save percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. D'YOUVILLE
Series Record: Daemen 4-0
At D'Youville: Daemen 3-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 2, D'Youville 0 | April 30, 2021 | at Buffalo, N.Y.
