Non-Conference Schedule Announced For Men's Soccer

7/12/2023 2:58:00 PM

AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University men's soccer team is set to play eight non-conference games this season. The non-conference portion of the 2023 schedule was announced today, and with today's announcement the entire 16-match schedule is now posted on the Daemen Athletics website. The schedule will feature teams from three different NCAA Division II conferences and one NCAA Division II independent.

Daemen's first four games of 2023 are against non-league opponents. The Wildcats open the season with a road trip to Canton, Ohio to play Walsh University (Aug. 31) and Malone University (Sept. 2) of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). The Wildcats battled Walsh to a 1-1 OT tie and defeated Malone (2-1) at Karrer Field in Amherst, N.Y. last year. Walsh finished 10-6-3 last year and advanced to the G-MAC Tournament, while Malone went 4-14-0 in 2022. Daemen will then be idle until Sept. 9 when they head to Colchester, Vt. to face Saint Michael's College of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10). The Wildcats opened the 2022 season with a 3-1 win over the Purple Knights in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Daemen will then play its first home game of the 2023 season on Sept. 13 when the Wildcats host Gannon University of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). It will mark the 10th all-time meeting between the two schools. Gannon, which finished 13-5-2 and advanced to the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament last year, has prevailed in seven of the previous nine meetings.

The final four non-league games are all on the road, beginning with a Sept. 20 match at Slippery Rock University of the PSAC. Daemen posted its first-ever win over SRU last year at Williamsville South High School. The Wildcats will then play three-straight East Coast Conference games, before returning to non-conference play with a game at perennial power Mercyhurst University on Oct. 4. The Lakers, who went 19-1-1 and claimed the PSAC Tournament title last year, escaped with a 1-0 win over Daemen last year at Mercyhurst.

The final two non-conference games are set for Oct. 11 and Oct. 14. The Wildcats will travel to The College of Saint Rose of the NE-10 on Oct. 11. The Golden Knights went 9-5-4 last year and earned their first-ever bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. It will mark the first meeting between Daemen and Saint Rose since 2015. Daemen closes out its non-league schedule on Oct. 14 at Salem University, a NCAA Division II independent located in Salem, W.V. It will mark just the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Salem, and the first since 2019. Salem went 9-5-5 last year and participated in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) championship tournament.

Head coach Bediako Swan returns 13 players from the 2022 squad and welcomes 18 newcomers. Daemen enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in program history last fall and closed out the year with a 7-7-3 overall record and a 3-4-1 mark in ECC play. The Wildcats entered the final game of the season in contention for their first ever appearance in the four team ECC Championship tournament, but were denied the bid. The seven wins ties the program record for most in a season set in 2005, 2006 and 2017. Daemen's 10 points and fifth place finish in the ECC standings rank as the best since the Wildcats joined the league in 2013.

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

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