Game #1
No. 2 Saint Rose Golden Knights (0-0, 0-0 NE-10) vs. Daemen Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 ECC)
DATE: Saturday, Aug. 27
TIME: 3:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Amherst, N.Y. | Karrer Field
LIVE STREAM BROADCAST: via ECC Network
LIVE STATS: via Daemen Athletics
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. BACK IN ACTION
Daemen opens its
2022 season by hosting nationally-ranked College of Saint Rose in a non-conference tilt Saturday (Aug. 27) at Karrer Field. The Wildcats play four of their first five games at home, before hitting a stretch of seven-straight road games. Veteran head coach
Dan Dolan has put together a challenging non-conference schedule that features five teams that advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament last year.
2. LAST TIME OUT
Saturday's game will mark the first game for Daemen since suffering a 2-0 loss to Mercy in the opening round of the East Coast Conference Tournament on Nov. 11, 2021. The Wildcats closed out the 2021 season with a 9-6-1 overall record and 7-1-1 mark in the ECC. The Wildcats finished strong last fall, going 8-2-1 over their final 11 games, including a 3-1 win over nationally-ranked Molloy which marked the program's first-ever victory over a nationally-ranked program.
3. 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.
4. POLLS, POLLS, POLLS
Daemen women's soccer has been
picked to finish third in the ECC this season according to the league's preseason poll which was released on August 16. 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 and Molloy 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 (57) and Queens (39) rounded out the top five.
5. ON THE HORIZION
Daemen will return to Karrer Field Tuesday (Aug. 30) when it hosts the Dolphins of Le Moyne College in a non-conference contest at 1 p.m.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Saint Rose is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. The Golden Knights are led by veteran head coach Laurie Darling Gutheil, who stands fourth among active NCAA Division II coaches with 389 victories entering the 2022 campaign. Darling Gutheil has guided the program to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances within the last 19 years and has twice been recognized as the United Soccer Coaches National Coach of the Year within the past 13 seasons. Saint Rose posted an 18-2-4 overall record last year, went 9-1-3 in conference play and won its record ninth NE-10 championship. The Golden Knights were picked first in the
NE-10 preseason poll and enter the 2022 season ranked No. 2 in the
USC Division II preseason poll. A total of 27 players, including eight starters, return from the 2021 squad that advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament, where they fell 3-2 in double overtime to top-ranked Grand Valley State. The top five scorers return from last year's team that racked up 59 goals in 24 games. Sophomore forward
Mia Klammer is coming off a solid rookie season in which she totaled 14 goals and 34 points and collected NE-10 Rookie of the Year and third team USC All-America honors. Graduate students Katelyn Britt (8 gls, 2 asts) and Janina Mueller (5 gls, 8 asts) also return after earning all-conference honors last year. All-conference defenders Sanna Rein and Jada Brown return from a defense that allowed just 14 goals in 24 games last year. The Golden Knights lost 2021 NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year Marika Laurendeau to graduation. She started all 24 games last year and posted 11 shutouts.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. SAINT ROSE
Series Record: Saint Rose 3-0
At Daemen: Saint Rose 1-0
At Saint Rose: Saint Rose 2-0
Last Meeting:
Saint Rose 2, Daemen 0 | March 27, 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.
