Geoff Schneider

Women's Soccer Plays At Regionally-Ranked Molloy Saturday

10/7/2022 10:11:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Tom McDermott, Director of Athletics Communications | tmcdermo@daemen.edu

Game #12
Daemen Wildcats (1-8-2, 1-2-0 ECC) vs. Molloy Lions (8-3-2, 4-1-0 ECC)
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 8
TIME: 3 p.m.
LOCATION: Rockville Centre, N.Y. | RVC Sports Complex
LIVE STREAM BROADCAST: via ECC Network
LIVE STATS: via Molloy Athletics

BACK IN ACTION
Daemen travels to Rockville Centre, N.Y. for an East Coast Conference game at regionally-ranked Molloy on Saturday (Oct. 8). The Wildcats posted a historic 3-1 win over nationally-ranked Molloy last year at Karrer Field--Daemen's first-ever win against a nationally-ranked program.

LAST TIME OUT
Daemen and host Assumption battled to a 2-2 draw Tuesday afternoon at Brian Kelly Stadium on the Assumption campus. It marked the final non conference game of the year for Daemen. It was a game of two halves, as Daemen out shot the Greyhounds 11-7 and scored twice in the first half, while Assumption posted a 15-6 edge in shots and netted two goals in the second half. Daemen struck for two goals in the first 16 minutes of action to take an early 2-0 lead. Sophomore Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.) scored her first goal of the year at 12:42 off a nice feed from senior Tatyjana Scalisi(Williamsville, N.Y.). The Wildcats struck again just three minutes later when Scalisi took a pass from freshman Ella Mascadri (Rochester, N.Y.) and slid a low shot along the turf and into the lower right corner of the Assumption net. It was the first career point for Mascadri, It also marked the second goal of the year for Scalisi, who netted Daemen's lone goal in a 1-0 win at St. Thomas Aquinas this past weekend. Assumption forced Daemen senior goalkeeper Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) to make two saves early in the second half, and the game remained 2-0 until the 69th minute when sophomore Haleigh Ward scored off a pas from classmate Maya Demello. The Greyhounds scored again just five minutes later when sophomore Ashley Wenzel netted her second goal of the year. Both teams had scoring chances down the stretch and the game was still knotted at 2-2 when Assumption was awarded a penalty kick with just 1:40 to play following a Daemen foul in the box. Demello lined up for the kick but sent it off the right cross bar. The rebound came to Assumption's Annie Irwin and her shot from in close was saved by DeLappi. Diaz had a solid scoring chance in the final minute, but her shot was turned away by Assumption goalkeeper Bella Provost. DeLappi went the distance in net for Daemen and equaled her season-high for saves (10).

RETURNING VETERANS
Daemen returns 20 players from its 2021 team, including six who collected All-ECC honors last year. Experience is abundant, as the team features two graduate students, seven seniors and five juniors. The team's top five scorers from last year all return to the pitch this fall. Senior Tatyjana Scalisi (Williamsville, N.Y.) and sophomore Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.) accounted for 13 of the team's 34 goals last year and both earned first team All-ECC honors. Scalisi also earned all-region honors, while Diaz became the first player in program history to be named the ECC Rookie of the Year. All-conference defenders Julia Eichel (Grand Island, N.Y.) and Baylin Tighe (Tonawanda, N.Y.) return after heading up a backline that surrendered just 20 goals in 16 games last year. Senior goalkeeper Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) is coming off an all-conference junior season in which she averaged five saves a game and posted a 1.27 goals against average. Graduate students Grace Stranahan and Katelyn Sidoti will serve as teams captains for 2022.

ROAD WARRIORS
Daemen enters the final weekend of a stretch of seven-straight road games. The Wildcats will have traveled nearly 2,500 miles by the end of the stretch, with the longest trip being Southern New Hampshire in Manchester N.H. (438 miles) and the shortest trip being Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa. (83 miles).

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen plays its first home game since Sept. 10 on Wednesday (Oct. 12) when the Wildcats host cross-town rival D'Youville at Karrer Field.

SCOUTING THE LIONS
Molloy won five of its first six games, but the Lions are just 3-2-2 over their last seven and are coming off a 2-0 non-conference loss at regionally-ranked Jefferson this past Wednesday. The Lions improved to 4-1-0 in the ECC following a 6-1 win at Queens last Saturday. Additional league wins have come over Staten Island (5-0), STAC (4-0) and Lincoln (14-0), while the lone league loss came against nationally-ranked Mercy (5-1). Molloy is ranked fifth in the East Region by the United Soccer Coaches. The Lions went 18-3-0 overall (8-1-0 ECC), won the ECC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament last year. Molloy advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before suffering a 1-0 loss to Mercy. The Lions were picked second in the 2022 ECC preseason coaches' poll. Senior Sienna Nicolich scored twice in the win over Staten Island and has totaled a team-high seven goals and a league-high 18 points. Junior Sarah Tappeto had a goal and three assists in the win over Queens and has totaled a league-leading 13 assists. Junior Shannon Kilian has started all 13 games in goal and owns a 1.00 goals against average with a league-high seven shutouts.

ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. MOLLOY
Record: Molloy, 5-3-0
At Daemen: Daemen, 3-1-0
At Molloy: Molloy, 4-0-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 3, Molloy 1 | Oct. 2, 2021 | at Amherst, N.Y.

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 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 women's soccer program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenWSOC.

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