Game #5
Daemen Wildcats (2-2-0, 1-0-0 ECC) vs Mercyhurst Lakers (3-2-0, 0-0-0 PSAC)
DATE: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
TIME: 11:30 a.m.
LOCATION: Williamsville, N.Y. / Williamsville South High School
LIVE STREAM: Via ECC Sports Network
LIVE STATS: Via Daemen Athletics
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. BACK IN ACTION
Daemen continues their 2021 campaign with their long-awaited home opener as they host Mercyhurst at 11:30 a.m. on the campus of Williamsville South High School in Williamsville, N.Y. This marks Daemen's latest home opener since the 2012 season. Wednesday is only the second all-time meeting between the programs. Mercyhurst won the inaugural meeting, 4-2, on Oct. 23, 2018 at Williamsville South High School after scoring on two penalty kicks in a three-minute span late in the second half. Mercyhurst leads the all-time series, 1-0. This will be Daemen's first contest since a 4-1 victory against new East Coast Conference opponent D'Youville on Sept. 18. Junior forward
Christian Lewin (Bobenheim-Roxheim, Germany) scored in the 36th and 74th minutes in what was his first multi-goal performance of his Daemen career. Redshirt senior and midfielder
Anthony Cupello and
Trey Buscaglia scored in the 51st and 87th minutes, respectively, for Daemen. For Cupello, this was his first goal while wearing the blue-and-white since Daemen's 3-1 road loss at Lock Haven on Sept. 18, 2018. This was also the fourth goal of his Wildcat career. Buscaglia, meanwhile, recorded his second goal of the season.
Chris Cox (Buffalo, N.Y.),
Pontus Lundin (Asmundtorp, Sweden) and
Derek Mancuso (Friendship, N.Y.) and
Vincent Ranieri (Spencerport, N.Y.) all recorded assists in the victory. Senior goalkeeper
Marcos Lerma Escobar (Zaragoza, Spain) was in net for a fourth consecutive start for the Wildcats and recorded four saves in the victory. Saturday was Daemen's first four-goal outing as a program since a 4-0 season-finale victory versus St. Thomas Aquinas on Oct. 27, 2018 at Williamsville South High School. This was also the second time Daemen has scored multiple goals in a contest this season (2-1 victory at Malone on Sept. 4.) With the victory, Daemen has now won five of their last seven contests dating back to rattling off three straight victories to conclude their COVID-19 abbreviated slate in spring 2021.
2. BALANCED SCORING
Through the team's first four contests, five players have combined for Daemen's total of seven goals while nine different players have recorded at least one of Daemen's 20 overall points. Juniors
Trey Buscaglia (East Amherst, N.Y.) and
Christian Lewin (Bobenheim-Roxheim, Germany) currently lead the Wildcats with two goals each. Buscaglia also leads the team in overall points (5.) Fellow veterans
Derek Bartlo (Williamsville, N.Y.),
Anthony Cupello (Rochester, N.Y.) and
Dennis Montero Guerrero (Weingarten, Germany) round out the scoring with one goal apiece. Freshman midfielder
Vincent Ranieri (Spencerport, N.Y.) has contributed two of Daemen's six assists so far in the young season. Since scoring in the 80th minute of a 4-2 loss to Roberts Wesleyan on March 27, 2021, Daemen has now outscored their opponents, 14-6.
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 returned to conference play this fall. Daemen men's soccer has been picked to finish ninth in the East Coast Conference 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. 20, Mercy, Daemen, Molloy, Bridgeport and Dist. Columbia are currently in a five-way tie for first place after winning their conference openers this past weekend. 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 a trip to our nation's capital when they face the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds in an East Coast Conference matchup on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 2 PM at UDC Field.
MERCYHURST SCOUTING REPORT
Mercyhurst is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Lakers saw their 2020 season canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but finished with a 6-0 record in exhibition play. The Lakers enter Wednesday's contest with a 3-2-0 record and have rattled off three straight wins against University of the District of Columbia (4-2 on Sept. 10), Shepherd University (6-0 on Sept. 15) and Salem University (3-0 on Sept. 18.) Mercyhurst is led by head coach Ryan Osborne. This is Osborne's first full season as head coach after leading the program through exhibition play in the spring 2021 semester. Prior to taking over the program, Osborne served as the Associate Head Men's Soccer Coach at Notre Dame College in Ohio. During his time, the Falcons recorded 47 wins and finished with a No. 23 ranking in 2018. Previous stops for Osborne also included assistant coaching roles at Marietta College and his alma mater, University of Charleston of Division II. The Lakers return 25 players in 2021, 10 of whom were also on the 2019 team that finished 10-6-2 overall and advanced to the PSAC Tournament Semifinals. Graduate student and forward Nevado Elliott leads the Lakers in goals scored (5) and total points (10.) Sophomore midfielder Dylan Sumner is second on the team with three goals and freshman midfielder Sean Kerrigan has tallied two goals. Graduate student Jonathan Gomes has started in all five of Mercyhurst's contests this season and has posted a 3-2-0 record, two shutouts, a 1.40 GA and a .462 save percentage.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MERCYHURST
Series Record: Mercyhurst 1-0
At Daemen: Mercyhurst 1-0
Last Meeting: Mercyhurst 4, Daemen 2 | October 23, 2018 | at Williamsville, N.Y.
