Women's Lacrosse Set For First Ever Conference Game

Wildcats Play At District of Columbia Friday

3/30/2023 9:46:00 AM

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

Game #11
Daemen Wildcats (5-5, 0-0 ECC) vs. District of Columbia Firebirds (1-7, 0-2 ECC)
DATE: Friday, March 31
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Washington, D.C. | Georgetown Day School
LIVE STATS: via UDC Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network

ANOTHER FIRST
It will be another first in program history, as the Wildcats travel to our nation's capital to take on the University of the District of Columbia in their first ever East Coast Conference game. Game time is 1 p.m. at Georgetown Day School.

HISTORY MADE
Daemen made a successful program debut back on Feb. 26, as the Wildcats posted a 14-10 victory at Lake Erie College in the first game in program history. The 2023 campaign will mark the inaugural season for the program. Daemen officially announced it was adding women's lacrosse as a varsity sport in June of 2021.

GUIDING THE SHIP
First-year head coach Dominique Hamman will head up a 19-player roster that includes 11 freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and two graduate students. Prior to Daemen, Hamman spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Grand Valley State and played collegiately at Division I Central Michigan, where she was a member of CMU's inaugural team in 2016.

LIMITED EXPERIENCE
Daemen's rosters features three players with collegiate experience. Graduate student defender Hayley Latvala (Grand Island, N.Y.) played four seasons (2018-21) at Gannon University. She played in 44 of a possible 48 games and was in the starting lineup 38 times. Graduate student forward Casey Decatur (Apollo Beach, Fla.) played three seasons (2018-20) at Division I Saint Bonaventure and played in 29 of a possible 41 games over her career. Sophomore defender Emma Fenwick (Buffalo, N.Y.) played in nine games as rookie at John Carroll University last spring.

FIRST GAME, FIRST WIN
Turns out it was worth the wait, as Daemen picked up a victory in the first game in program history following a 14-10 victory at Lake Erie College on Feb. 26. The long awaited game came over a year and a half after Daemen officially announced it was adding women's lacrosse as a varsity sport in June of 2021. Junior Dana Bacher (Hamburg, N.Y.) scored five goals and graduate student Casey Decatur (Apollo Beach, Fla.) added three goals and four assists to lead the way today. Freshman Blair Pfohl (Lockport, N.Y.) went the distance in goal for the Wildcats and made three saves to earn the win in her collegiate debut. Freshman Kylie Miranto (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) will get credit for scoring the first goal in program history, as her goal off a pass from Decatur just 1:15 into the game gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 until LEC evened the score at 1-1 with 8:56 left in the first quarter. Bacher scored the first of her five goals less than a minute later, and Daemen would take a 5-2 lead into the second quarter. The Wildcats scored four unanswered goals over the first six minutes of the second quarter to take a 9-2 lead. Daemen would take a 10-3 lead into halftime. LEC outscored the Wildcats 3-1 during the third quarter and the hosts later cut the Daemen lead to three goals, 12-9, with 8:24 to play in the fourth quarter. Daemen regained control after Decatur and sophomore Camryn Day (Hamburg, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals a minute apart to give the Wildcats a 14-9 lead.

LEAGUE HONORS FOR DECATUR AND BACHER
Graduate student Casey Decatur (Apollo Beach, Fla.) and junior Dana Bacher (Hamburg, N.Y.) were honored by the East Coast Conference for their play last week. Decatur was selected the ECC Women's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, while Bacher was named the ECC Women's Lacrosse Rookie of the Week. The announcement of award winners was made via the league's weekly sport report which was released this past Monday. Bacher collects Rookie of the Week honors for the third time in six weeks, while Decatur picks up her second Offensive Player of the Week award. Earlier this year they became the first players in program history to earn a major weekly honor from the ECC.

BY THE NUMBERS
Several Daemen players rank among the East Coast Conference statistical leaders. Graduate student Casey Decatur (Apollo Beach, Fla.) is tied for the league lead in assists (24) and ranks second in total points (47). Junior Dana Bacher (Hamburg, N.Y.) ranks fourth in goals (29) and sixth in points (34). Freshman Ella Bouley (Auburn, N.Y.) ranks 13th in goals (21) and 18th in points (24). Freshman Blair Pfohl (Lockport, N.Y.) ranks second in ground balls (29) and fourth in total saves (73). Sophomore Camryn Day (Hamburg, N.Y.) ranks first (65) and Bouley ranks fourth (45) in draw controls.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
The Daemen defense, led by graduate student Hayley Latvala (Grand Island, N.Y.), sophomore Emma Fenwick (Buffalo, N.Y.) and freshmen Jenna Havert (Newark, N.Y.) and Kira Grzechowiak (West Seneca, N.Y.) has allowed just 46 shots (15.3 per game) and 19 goals (6.3 per game) over the past three games. The Wildcats limited Tiffin to four total shots and zero goals in the first half this past Sunday.

POLL POSITION
Daemen was picked to finish sixth in the East Coast Conference preseason poll following a vote of the league's seven head coaches. Mercy College, which has played in each of the last five ECC Tournament title games and claimed the conference championship in 2019 and 2022, collected six of the seven first place votes and topped the poll with 48 points. Roberts Wesleyan University, which lost to Mercy in last year's ECC Tournament championship game, earned the other first place vote and placed second with 42 points. Molloy University (35), D'Youville University (29) and Saint Thomas Aquinas College (18) round out the top five. Daemen collected 14 points and earned the No. 6 spot ahead of the University of the District of Columbia (10).

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen plays just one game next week, as the Wildcats host Molloy University in an ECC game Saturday (April 8). The game will be played at Medaille Sports Complex in Buffalo.

SCOUTING DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
District of Columbia returns six players from last year's team that went 0-12 overall and 0-5 in ECC play. UDC has lost six straight games and is coming off a 22-1 loss to Molloy last Saturday. Newcomer Jada Williams scored eight goals in a 20-14 loss to Edinboro and has totaled a team-high 22 goals. Junior Alejandra Lainez-Rodriquez totaled five points (3 gls, 2 asts) in a 15-3 win over Alliance and has totaled 10 goals and three assists. Freshman Natalia Perkins has started all eight games in goal and is averaging 8.6 saves per game.

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 lacrosse program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWLAX

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