Women's Lacrosse Opens Sophomore Season This Week

2/20/2024 2:11:00 PM

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

FRESH START
The Daemen women's lacrosse team opens the 2024 season with two games this week. The Wildcats will kick off their sophomore season on the road, as they travel to Walsh University on Thursday. Daemen will then host Dominican University in its home opener on Saturday. The game will be played at Coyer Field on the campus of Buffalo State University.

SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN
Last season marked the inaugural season for Daemen women's lacrosse. Daemen officially announced it was adding women's lacrosse as a varsity sport in June of 2021. The Wildcats made a successful debut on Feb. 26, 2023 when they posted a 14-10 victory at Lake Erie College in the first game in program history. Daemen would go on to post a 7-9 record in its inaugural season.

GUIDING THE SHIP
Second-year head coach Dominique Hamman will head up a 21-player roster that includes six freshmen, nine sophomores, three juniors, two seniors and one graduate student. 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.

SEASON OUTLOOK
Coach Hamman returns 12 players and welcomes nine newcomers to the 2024 roster. The Wildcats must overcome the graduation of all-conference attack Casey Decatur who ranked second in goals (37) and led the team in assists (37) and points (74) last year. Senior Dana Bacher (Hamburg, N.Y.), junior Camryn Day (Hamburg, N.Y.) and sophomore Ella Bouley (Auburn, N.Y.) will serve as team captains. Bacher earned second team All-ECC honors last season after leading the team in goals (43) and ranking second in points (52). Day led the ECC and ranked 18th nationally in draw controls per game (6.31) last year and also contributed 25 goals and 33 points. Bouley ranked third on the team in goals (28) and points (34). Sophomores Avery Castner (Penn Yan, N.Y.) and Kylie Miranto (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) also return. Castner netted 20 goals as a rookie, while Miranto totaled 16 points. Sophomore goaltender Blair Pfohl (Lockport, N.Y.) is back after starting all 16 games in goal last year and averaging seven saves per game.

POLL POSITION
Daemen was picked to finish fifth in the East Coast Conference preseason poll following a vote of the league's seven head coaches. Two-time defending champion Mercy University collected five of the seven first place votes and topped the poll with 47 points. Roberts Wesleyan University earned the other two first place votes and placed second with 42 points.

SCOUTING WALSH
Thursday's game is the 2024 opener for Walsh, which is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). Walsh returns four of the top seven scorers from last year's team that went 16-3 overall and 8-0 in G-MAC play. The Cavaliers claimed their third-straight G-MAC Tournament title following a 9-8 victory over Findlay in the tournament championship game. Walsh was picked to finish first in the G-MAC preseason poll. All-conference selections Isabella Kelty and Rachel Black return up front. Kelty led the team in assists (49) and totaled 24 goals and 73 points last year, while Black totaled 27 goals and 45 points. Katie Coomes also returns after totaling 35 goals and 44 points. All-conference selections Mallory Miller and Sarah Shepard return on defense. Miller totaled a team-high 81 draw controls and was also voted the G-MAC Defensive Player of the Year last year. Senior goalkeeper Kathleen Mendenhall (8.82 GAA) played in 17 of 18 games last year, while sophomore Rebekah Bargeron (4.74 GAA) played in 13 games as rookie last year.

SCOUTING DOMINICAN
Saturday's game is the 2024 opener for Dominican, which is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC). Dominican returns several key players from last year's team that went 17-2 overall and 9-1 in CACC play. The Chargers claimed their first CACC Tournament title following a 12-11 (2OT) victory over Jefferson University in the tournament championship game. The Chargers led the nation in goals per game (19.4) and ranked second in fewest goals allowed per game (6.9) last year. Dominican was picked to finish first in the CACC preseason poll. All-conference selections Caitlin Costello, Madelyn Grella, Grace DeStasio and Erica Ortiz all return up front. Costello totaled a team-high 134 points (48 gls, 86 asts), led the nation in assists (86) and was named the CACC Offensive Player of the Year and third team All-America last year. Grella earned CACC Rookie of the Year honors after totaling 127 points (62 gls, 65 asts). Costello and Grella closed out the year ranked first and second nationally in points per game. DeStasio ranked third among all Division II players in goals (87) last year and totaled 107 points, while Ortiz racked up 61 goals and 75 points. Ortiz also led the team in draw controls with 123. All-conference defenders Erin Carr and Jenna Rigo also return. Carr was also voted the CACC Defensive Player of the Year. Junior goalkeeper Kristinamarie Kaszovitz started all 19 games and earned All-CACC honors last year after posting an 8.18 goals against average.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is idle until next Saturday (March 2) when it begins a stretch of five-straight road games at Lock Haven University.

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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