Geoff Schneider

Women's Lacrosse Heads To Gannon Tuesday

Wildcats Will Play Four Games In Eight Days

3/4/2024 10:07:00 AM

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

FRESH START
The Daemen women's lacrosse team travels to Gannon University for a non-conference game Tuesday (March 5). It will mark the first of four road games in the span of eight days 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.

THE 2024 WILDCATS (0-3, 0-0 ECC)
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. Daemen is coming off a 15-8 loss at Lock Haven on Saturday. Ella Bouley scored four goals in the loss to Dominican and has totaled a team-high six goals and nine points on the year. Camryn Day scored twice in the loss to Lock Haven and has totaled five points (4 gls, 1 ast). Freshman Mikayla Myer (4 gls) scored her first career goal during the loss to Walsh and has netted at least one goal in each of the first three games. Dana Bacher has netted three goals, while freshman Shannen Calandra recorded her first career points (2 asts) in the loss to Dominican and netted her first career goal against Lock Haven. Olivia Wade scored twice in the loss to Lock Haven. Blair Pfohl started the first two games in net and made nine saves in the loss to Walsh. Senior transfer Tatiana Wright played the final 41:23 in net against Dominican and made seven saves. Wright made her first start for Daemen against Lock Haven and made 10 saves.

SCOUTING GANNON (0-3, 0-0 PSAC)
Saturday's game is the 2024 home opener for Gannon, which is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The Golden Knights opened the season with two tough loses, suffering a 13-11 loss to Georgian Court and a 13-12 setback to Molloy. Gannon returns five of the top seven scorers from last year's team that went 4-13 overall and 4-8 in PSAC play. Gannon was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC Western Division. Junior Caroline Stevens returns after totaling a team-high 34 goals and 47 points plast year. She netted six goals in the loss to Molloy and has totaled 13 goals and 15 points this season. Senior McKenna Woodworth (34 gls, 6 asts, 40 pts) and junior Avrey Kirisits (12 gls, 13 asts, 25 pts) also return. Stevens also collected a team-high 81 draw controls last year. Junior goalkeeper Haleigh Manning (13.19 GAA) returns after earning second team All-PSAC West last year. She has started all three games this year and made 13 saves in the loss to Molloy.

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game marks the second all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Golden Knights. Daemen posted a thrilling 14-13 victory over Gannon last year in Buffalo. Camryn Day scored off a free position shot with just two seconds left in regulation time to secure the win for Daemen. Casey Decatur totaled three goals and four assists for Daemen, while Dana Bacher added five goals and one assist. Macy Hepditch netted five goals and McKenna Woodworth added three goals and two assists for Gannon. Blair Pfhol made nine saves for Daemen, while Riley Finnegan stopped nine shots for the Golden Knights.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen begins a stretch of three games in the state of Missouri with a game at Rockhurst University Friday (March 8).

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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