Women's Lacrosse To Play Three Times This Week

Wildcats Open The Week With A Trip To Nationally-Ranked Le Moyne

3/7/2023 12:45:00 PM

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

Game #4
Daemen Wildcats (1-2, 0-0 ECC) vs. #5 Le Moyne Dolphins (2-0, 0-0 NE-10)
DATE: Wednesday, March 8
TIME: 3:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Syracuse, N.Y. | Ted Grant Field
LIVE STATS: via Le Moyne Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via NE-10 Network

Game #5
Daemen Wildcats vs. Tiffin Dragons (3-3, 0-0 G-MAC)
DATE: Friday, March 10
TIME: 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Buffalo, N.Y. | Medaille Sports Complex
LIVE STATS: via Daemern Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network

Game #6
Daemen Wildcats vs. Gannon Golden Knights (0-2, 0-0 PSAC)
DATE: Sunday, March 12
TIME: 1 p.m.
LOCATION: Buffalo, N.Y. | Medaille Sports Complex
LIVE STATS: via Daemen Athletics / LIVE VIDEO: via ECC Network

RIGHT BACK AT IT
It will be another action packed week for the Daemen women's lacrosse team, as the Wildcats play three games in the span of five days starting with a trip to Syracuse to play nationally-ranked Le Moyne on Wednesday. Daemen caps the week with home games against Tiffin on Friday and Gannon on Sunday.

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.

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 will play three games next week as well, beginning with a non-league tilt at Alfred University on Wednesday (March 15).

SCOUTING LE MOYNE
Le Moyne is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10). Le Moyne returns 22 players from last year's team that went 15-6 overall and 10-3 in NE-10 play. The Dolphins lost in the championship game of the NE-10 Tournament and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament where they suffered a loss to Adelphi in the opening round. The Dolphins were picked to finish second in the NE-10 preseason poll and opened the 2023 season with non-league wins over nationally-ranked Mercy (12-8) and nationally-ranked Roberts Wesleyan (16-6). Graduate student Jessica Meneilly returns after totaling a team-high 64 goals and 67 points and collecting first team All NE-10 honors last year. Graduate student defender Taylor Reich also earned first team all-conference honors last year, while sophomore defender Grace Brinza was an all-rookie selection last year. Senior goalkeeper Paige Crandall returns after starting all 21 games last year. Meneilly has scored a team-high eight goals this season, while graduate transfer Sara Goodwion has contributed five goals and three assists. Crandall has gone the distance in goal in both games and made 11 saves in the win over Mercy.

SCOUTING TIFFIN
Tiffin is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Great Midwest Conference (G-MAC). Tiffin returns seven players from last year's team that went 5-13 overall and 5-5 in G-MAC play. The Dragons were picked to finish fourth in the G-MAC preseason poll. Tiffin opened the 2023 season with non-league losses to Maryvale (23-1) and McKendree (19-5), before posting back-to-back wins over Thomas More (10-9) and Chowan (13-12). The Dragons lost to Barton (16-8) and defeated West Virginia Wesleyan (11-8) last week. Tiffin must overcome the loss of five all-conference selections and the top four scorers from last year. Sophomore Gabby Wilson returns after totaling 21 goals and 29 points and earning second team all-conference honors as a rookie. Junior goalkeeper Jenay Rennie returns after earning second team all-conference honors last year. Wilson scored three goals in the win over West Virginia Wesleyan and has totaled 12 goals and 14 points this season. Freshmen Gabrielle Beals (8 gls, 5 asts), Katelyn Jarvis (12 gls, 1 ast) and Lillian Graham (7 gls, 2 asts) have made immediate contributions this season. Rennie has started all six games in goal and made 13 saves in the win over Thomas More.

SCOUTING GANNON
Gannon is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Gannon returns 18 players from last year's team that went 5-12 overall and 3-9 in PSAC play. The Golden Knights were picked to finish sixth in the PSAC West preseason poll. Gannon opened the year down in Florida last week, suffering a 19-8 loss to nationally-ranked Embry-Riddle and a 19-7 loss to Florida Tech. Gannon plays at Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday before taking on Daemen Sunday. Juniors McKenna Woodworth and Macy Hepditch and sophomore Caroline Stevens top the list of returning players. Woodworth totaled 40 goals and team-high 51 points last year. Hepditch and Stevens both collected second team all-conference honors last year. Hepditch totaled 32 goals and a team-high 14 assists, while Stevens scored a team-high 41 goals. Junior goalkeeper Kendra Delissio returns after playing in nine of 17 games last year. Woodworth has totaled a team-high four goals so far this season. Freshman Riley Finnegan has started both games in goal and made seven saves in the loss to Embry-Riddle.

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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