Women's Soccer Plays At Saint Rose Tuesday; Opens Conference Play This Weekend

9/11/2023 10:37:00 AM

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

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen women's soccer team plays two games this week. The Wildcats travel to nationally-ranked College of Saint Rose for a Tuesday (Sept. 12) night game and host Queens College Saturday (Sept. 16) in the East Coast Conference (ECC) opener for both teams. Saturday's game will be played at Karrer Field on the campus of The Park School in Amherst, N.Y. Match time is 11 a.m.

THE WILDCATS
Daemen opened the 2023 season with non-conference losses to Assumption (2-0) and American International (2-1). Daemen returns 19 players from last year and welcomes eight newcomers (six freshmen, two transfers) to the 2023 roster. Daemen went 5-1-1 over its final seven games last fall and earned its second-straight bid to the four-team ECC Championship tournament. The Wildcats suffered a 2-0 loss to eventual champion Mercy College in the semifinals. Daemen is ranked fourth in the 2023 ECC preseason coaches' poll.

Five of the top six scorers return to the fold, including All-ECC selections Alyssa Diaz (Rochester, N.Y.), Tatyjana Scalisi (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Kylie Miranto (North Tonawanda, N.Y.). Diaz, a junior forward/defender, has earned all-conference honors in each of her first two seasons and totaled a team-high seven goals and 16 points last year. Scalisi has also collected All-ECC honors the past two seasons and has totaled nine goals and 28 points over her career. Miranto started 15 of 17 games as freshman last year and ranked second on the team in goals (5) and points (11). Sophomore Becca Schultz (Grand Island, N.Y.) has started the first two games in goal for the Wildcats and has made seven saves in each game.

HOME SWEET HOME
Daemen will play five of its first seven games at home. The Wildcats are 9-6-1 at home since the start of the 2021 season.

THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Saint Rose is a NCAA Division II member of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10). CSR is ranked No. 6 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Division II poll and stands at 3-0-0 on the year following wins over Georgian Court (2-0), Jefferson (3-2) and Roberts Wesleyan (3-0). Head coach Laurie Darling Gutheil is entering her 28th season. A two-time (2009, 2011) USC Division II National Coach of the Year, she entered the 2023 season ranked fourth among active NCAA Division II coaches with 408 victories. She has led the Golden Knights to 17 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and one (2011) NCAA National title. CSR went 19-1-3 last year and was picked first in the 2023 NE-10 preseason poll. All-Americans Mia Klammer and Lauren Amerena return up front. Klammer totaled 12 goals and 15 assists last year, while Amerena registered six goals and seven assists. The Golden Knights also return an All-American between the pipes. Pia Bozic returns after starting all 23 games and posting a 0.44 goals against average and 13 combined shutouts. She has started all three games this season and made two saves in the win over Roberts Wesleyan.

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's contest will mark just the fifth all-time meeting between Daemen and Saint Rose. The Golden Knights have prevailed in each of the previous four meetings. CSR escaped with a 2-1 victory at Karrer Field last year.

THE KNIGHTS
Queens returns just nine players from last year and welcomes 17 newcomers (14 freshmen, 3 transfers) to the 2023 roster. The Knights stand at 1-1-1 on the year. They opened the year with a 0-0 draw with Southern Connecticut, before suffering a 3-0 loss to nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce. The Knights posted a 2-1 win over regionally-ranked Jefferson last Wednesday and their game against Dominican this past weekend was postponed. The Knights host Caldwell in a non-league match Wednesday before taking on the Wildcats Saturday. Head coach Thomas Paris is entering his second season. The Knights went 2-10-3 overall and 2-4-2 in the ECC last year. They were picked fifth in the 2023 ECC preseason poll. Junior Julia Ragone returns after totaling a team-high three goals and two assists last year. She scored the game-winner against Jefferson with just 3:13 left to play. Graduate transfer Erin Kelly, who previously played at Division I Wagner College, has started all three games in goal this year and made nine saves in the loss to Franklin Pierce.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's contest will mark the 10th all-time meeting between the the Wildcats and the Knights. Queens prevailed in four of the first five meetings and owns a 5-3-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Knights posted a 1-0 win at Queens last fall, snapping a three-match losing streak to the Wildcats.

UP NEXT
It will be another busy week for the Wildcats next week, as they travel to Chestnut Hill on Tuesday (Sept. 19) and then host Staten Island (Sept. 23) and Lake Erie (Sept. 24) over the weekend.

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.

Print Friendly Version