Geoff Schneider

Women's Lacrosse Travels To Lock Haven Saturday

It Will Mark The First Of Five Straight Road Games For The Wildcats

2/29/2024 9:25:00 AM

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

FRESH START
The Daemen women's lacrosse team travels to Lock Haven University for a non-conference game Saturday. It will mark the first of five straight road games for the Wildcats.

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.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
Daemen opened its sophomore campaign with two challenging games, as they traveled to Walsh University and hosted Dominican University. Both teams claimed their respective conference championships last year and posted a combined 33-5 record. Walsh posted a 15-5 victory over the Wildcats, while Dominican spoiled Daemen's home opener with a 20-8 victory over the Wildcats. Ella Bouley scored four goals in the loss to Dominican and has totaled a team-high five goals and six points on the year. Freshman Mikayla Myer (Geneva, N.Y.) scored her first career goal during the loss to Walsh and netted two goals against Dominican. Camryn Day (2 gls, 1 asts) and Dana Bacher (2 gls) also produced, while freshman Shannen Calandra (Rome, N.Y.) recorded her first career points (2 asts) in the loss to Dominican. Sophomore Blair Pfohl started both games in net and made nine saves in the loss to Walsh. Senior transfer Tatiana Wright (Stratford, Conn.) played the final 41:23 in net against Dominican and made seven saves.

SCOUTING LOCK HAVEN
Saturday's game is the 2024 home opener for Lock Haven, which is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The Bald Eagles opened the season with a 10-7 win at Ashland yesterday. LHU returns the top 10 scorers from last year's team that went 6-11 overall and 4-8 in PSAC play. LHU was picked to finish fifth in the PSAC Western Division. Graduate student Abby Katrinak returns after totaling a team-high 38 goals and 50 points plast year. Sophomore Gabby Gunnip (34 gls, 10 asts, 44 pts) and second-team All-PSAC midfielder Josey Shaffer (30 gls, 6 asts, 36 pts) also return. Shaffer also collected a team-high 56 draw controls last year. LHU graduated three starters on defense, but returns senior Kelsey Schultz who started 10 games as a junior. Senior goalkeeper Dana Mirigliano (12.60 GAA) played in all 17 games last year and averaged eight saves per game.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to Pennsylvania on Tuesday (March 5) to take on Gannon 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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