Demi McCalliog and Daemen women's soccer kicks off ECC play Saturday at D'Youville.

Women's Soccer Starts ECC Play At D'Youville Saturday

9/17/2021 10:45:00 AM

By: By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Game #5
Daemen Wildcats (1-3-0, 0-0-0 ECC) vs D'Youville Saints (1-2-0, 0-0-0 ECC)
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 18
TIME: 12 p.m.
LOCATION: Buffalo, N.Y. / Dobson Field
LIVE STREAM BROADCAST: Via ECC Sports Network
LIVE STATS: Via D'Youville Athletics

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. BACK IN ACTION
Daemen resumes their traditional 16-game schedule and start their slate of East Coast Conference contests when they visit the D'Youville Saints at noon at Dobson Field in Buffalo, N.Y. 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 twice this past spring as part of their independent schedules after the ECC canceled the 2020 fall sports season due to COVID-19 protocols. Daemen leads the all-time series, 4-0. The Wildcats looks to rebound following their 3-1 non-conference loss at St. Anselm on Sept. 15. Trailing 2-0 at halftime, senior midfielder Grace Stranahan (Grand Island, N.Y.) scored Daemen's lone goal in the 54th minute after she took a feed from redshirt senior Katja Meyer (Verona, N.Y.) to cut the deficit in half. Junior goalkeeper and reigning ECC Defensive Player of the Week Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) contributed five saves in her fourth consecutive start of the season.

2. AMAZING GRACE
By scoring in the 54th minute in Daemen's 3-1 loss to St. Anselm on Sept. 15, senior midfielder Grace Stranahan (Grand Island, N.Y.) recorded her eighth career goal and her first since November 2, 2019 vs. Lincoln (Pa.) With two more goals, Stranahan will become only the third player to have competed during 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.

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. D'Youville has been picked to finish ninth in ECC play with 24 total points and enter Saturday's contest with a 1-2-0 record following a 1-0 victory over Malone on Sept. 11. As of Sept. 16, Molloy is at the top of the standings with a 4-1-0 record followed closely behind by Bridgeport (3-1-0.) Queens and Mercy are tied for third place with D'Youville currently rounding out the top five. Daemen is currently in sixth place entering Saturday's contest. 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 is idle before crossing the state line to face ECC newcomer Lincoln (Pa.) on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. at the Lincoln University Auxiliary Fields.

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 0-4 overall record during the 2020 season that was postponed to spring 2021 due to COVID-19 protocols. D'Youville is led by first-year head coach Abby Pearson and are off to a 1-2-0 start this fall following a 1-0 victory over Malone on Sept. 11. In their final year of competition at the Division III level in 2019, D'Youville finished with a 10-6-2 overall record and advanced to the AMCC semifinals before bowing out to Pitt-Greensburg, 1-0, in overtime on Nov. 6. Prior to taking over the D'Youville this past July, Pearson spent four seasons as the associate head coach at St. Bonaventure University. As a player, Pearson played at Urbana University (Ohio) and graduated second in career assists and top ten in career goals for the Blue Knights. Pearson then played professionally for the Dayton Dutch Lions of the USL W-League, winning a conference title in 2013 and later played semi-professionally for the Cincinnati Sirens of the WPSL and PSAL and won the championship in 2019. This fall, D'Youville returns eight players from their spring roster and five of those returnees were on the roster in 2019. Junior Maggie Leeds and freshmen Jillian Bernas and Lauren Zwolenkiewicz have scored a goal apiece so far in 2021 and long-time goaltender Laurie Poeller has recorded a 1.39 GAA and an .833 save percentage.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. D'YOUVILLE
Series Record: Daemen 4-0
At D'Youville: Daemen 2-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 5, D'Youville 0 | April 17, 2021 | at Amherst, NY

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