Game #2
Le Moyne Dolphins (1-0-0, 0-0-0 NE-10) vs. Daemen Wildcats (0-1-0, 0-0-0 ECC)
DATE: Tuesday, Aug. 30
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Amherst, N.Y. | Karrer Field
LIVE STREAM BROADCAST: via ECC Network
LIVE STATS: via Daemen Athletics
BACK IN ACTION
Daemen continues its busy opening week, as the Wildcats host Le Moyne College in a non-conference match Tuesday (Aug. 30) 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.
LAST TIME OUT
Nationally-ranked College of Saint Rose broke a 1-1 tie with a goal with just over 20 minutes to play and held on for a 2-1 victory over upset-minded Daemen University in non-conference women's soccer action this past Saturday at Karrer Field. It marked the 2022 season opener for both teams. Saint Rose, which returns eight starters from last year's team that advanced all the way to the championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament, entered the game ranked
No. 2 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Division II preseason poll. The teams entered halftime knotted at 1-1 following an evenly played first half. The visiting Golden Knights opened the scoring in the 16th, before the Wildcats evened the score 10 minutes later when their Grand Island connection teamed up for a goal. Junior forward
Brooke Amato (Grand Island, N.Y.) collected a loose ball in the St. Rose box following a corner kick by graduate student
Grace Stranahan (Grand, N.Y.) and Amato one timed a low shot past CSR netminder Pia Bozic. St. Rose held a slim 11-6 edge in shots following the first 45 minutes. Saint Rose scored what would turn out to be the game winner off a free kick following a Daemen penalty deep in the Daemen defensive end. Senior back Sanna Rein took the free kick, which forced Daemen netminder
Tori DeLappi (Medina, Ohio) to make a nice diving save. The rebound went right to the feet of senior midfield Caylee Boorse and she one timed a shot into the lower left corner. Daemen had a couple solid chances to even the score over the final 20 minutes, but Bozic came up with saves on shots by Stranahan in the 73rd minute and sophomore forward
Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.) in the 82nd minute. Saint Rose posted a 10-3 edge in shots in the second half and finished with a 21-9 advantage in shots overall (10-6 in shots on goal). DeLappi finished with eight saves, while Bozic, a transfer from Arizona State, stopped five shots in her CSR debut.
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.
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.
ON THE HORIZION
Daemen will play its first road game of the season Saturday (Sept. 3) when it heads to Waltham, Mass. to take on Bentley University in a non-conference contest at 11 a.m.
SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS
Le Moyne is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. Jaro Zawislan was named head coach earlier this month. He served as the head coach of Cornell men's soccer for seven years, leading the program to four consecutive winning seasons from 2011 to 2014, two seasons with at least 10 wins and an Ivy League Championship in 2012. Le Moyne posted a 2-10-3 overall record and a 1-9-3 mark in the NE-10 last year. The 2022 roster features 15 first year players to go along with 14 returners. Midfielder Magda Aspholm, defender Hildur Unnarsdóttir and midfielder Danielle Casey each return to the team after playing over 1,000 minutes during their first regular season with the Dolphins in 2021. Aspholm and Casey each started 11 matches as redshirt-freshmen, while Unnarsdóttir was in the starting lineup for 12 matches and led the team with three assists as a true freshman. Casey contributed three goals to the Le Moyne cause. The Dolphins opened the 2022 season with a 4-3 victory over Chestnut Hill this past Thursday. Unnarsdóttir scored two goals, including the game-winner with just over seven minutes left to play, to lead the way. Le Moyne finished with a 9-3 edge in shots on goal. Senior Allison Moreau played all 90 minutes in net for the Dolphins and did not make a save.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. LE MOYNE
Series Record: Le Moyne, 4-1
At Daemen: Le Moyne, 3-0
At Le Moyne: Series Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting:
Daemen 3, Le Moyne 1 | Sept. 11, 2019 | at Syracuse, 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.
