AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen University has been picked third in the East Coast Conference Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll which was announced this afternoon following a vote of the league's nine head coaches.
Daemen's No. 3 ranking comes after the team placed third in the final 2021 league standings and qualified for the four team ECC Tournament. The No. 3 preseason ranking ties for the highest in program history since the Wildcats joined the ECC in 2013. Daemen was also ranked third in the ECC preseason poll in 2019.
Mercy College and Molloy College both collected four first place votes and Mercy edged Molloy for the top spot in the poll with 75 points. Both Mercy and Molloy posted an 8-1-0 league record last year and Molloy earned the ECC Tournament title following a double overtime win over Mercy. Daemen collected one first place vote and earned 66 points, while Roberts Wesleyan College (57) and Queens College (39) rounded out the top five. The remainder of the poll consisted of D'Youville University (37), St. Thomas Aquinas College (27), the College of Staten Island (23) and Lincoln University (9).
Daemen returns 20 players from its 2021 team that finished 9-6-1 overall (7-1-1 ECC), including six who collected All-ECC honors last. 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.
The Wildcats open the 2022 season by playing four of their first five games at home, before hitting a stretch of seven-straight road games. Dolan has put together a challenging non-conference schedule that features five teams that advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Tournament last year. The Wildcats face their biggest challenge of the season in the season-opener when they host perennial power The College of Saint Rose at Karrer Field on Saturday, Aug. 27. The Golden Knights have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 16 times over the past 19 years and are ranked #2 in the 2022 United Soccer Coaches Division II preseason poll. Last year they posted an 18-2-4 record and advanced all the way to the NCAA Tournament national championship game, where they fell to Grand Valley State in double overtime. Daemen opens up conference play by hosting Mercy, another 2021 NCAA Tournament team, on Saturday, Sept, 10. The Wildcats will square off against defending ECC Tournament champion Molloy on the road on Oct. 8.
2022 ECC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Mercy (4) - 75
2. Molloy (4) - 72
3. DAEMEN (1) - 66
4. Roberts Wesleyan - 57
5. Queens - 39
6. D'Youville - 37
7. St. Thomas Aquinas - 27
8. Staten Island - 23
9. Lincoln - 9
( ) denotes first place votes
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.
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