AMHERST, N.Y. - In a battle of unbeaten teams, Daemen University and Walsh University battled to a 1-1 draw this afternoon at Karrer Field today. Daemen, which was looking to go 3-0-0 for the first time in program history, is now 2-0-1 on the year, while the visiting Cavaliers are now 3-0-1.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Daemen opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when senior midfielder Eman Wajed (Buffalo, N.Y.) got his leg in front of a clearing attempt inside the Walsh box and the ball ricocheted off Wajed's leg and past Walsh netminder Javier Sanchez.
• Daemen had two solid chances late in the first half. Senior midfielder Christian Lewin (Bobenheim-Roxheim, Germany) sent a blast from 25 yards out off the crossbar with 2:39 left in the half, and Wajed nearly netted his second of the game 30 seconds leter but his header from in close sailed over the crossbar.
• An evenly played first half saw the teams head into the break with four shots a piece.
• Walsh applied stready pressure early in the second half that resulted in a couple solid scoring chances. The first came following a corner kick in the 52nd minutes, as sophomore midfielder Gabriel Altawil sent a shot to the bottom left corner that was saved by Daemen netminder Marcos Lerma Escobar (Zaragosa, Spain). Lerma Escobar came up big less than a minute later following another corner kick, as he stopped a point blank shot by junior foward Leando Louro. 
• Walsh continued the pressure throughout the second half and eventually netted the equalizer with just 1:35 left to play after the Cavaliers were awarded a free kick following a Daemen foul near midfield. Senior midfielder Ian Quinn sent the free kick into the Daemen box where the ball hit off a couple players before sophomore Jose Rabadan Villanueva on timed a low shot past Lerma Escobar.
• Daemen was then awarded a penalty kick with just 52 seconds left after a Wildcat player was tackled in the Walsh box. Sanchez came up with a diving save on the shot by senior Pontus Lundin (Asmundorp, Sweden) to keep the game knotted at 1-1.
• Walsh outshot the Wildcats 10-3 in the second half and the Cavalier finished with a 14-7 edge in total shots and a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.
• Lerma Escobar finished with six saves for the Wildcats, while Sanchez stopped three shots for Walsh.

GAME NOTES

• Daemen was picked eighth in the preseason East Coast Conference poll, while Walsh is ranked fifth in the preseason Great Midwest Athletic Conference poll.
• Today's game will mark the 18th all-time meeting between the former NAIA American Mideast Conference members. Today was the first time the teams have played to a draw. Walsh owns a 16-1-1 advantage in the all-time series.
• Daemen has limited each of its first three opponents to just one goal.
• Daemen is off to its best start dince opening the 2010 season 4-1-0.

UP NEXT

Daemen will return to Karrer Field next Saturday (Sept. 10) when it hosts the Mavericks of Mercy College in their ECC opener at 1:30 p.m.

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 University men's soccer program on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @DaemenMSOC.