Geoff Schneider

Women's Lacrosse Hosts District of Columbia Sunday

4/12/2024 9:57:00 AM

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

OPENING DRAW
The Daemen women's lacrosse team hosts the University of the District of Columbia Sunday (April 14) in an East Coast Conference game.

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 (4-9, 1-2 ECC)
Daemen has won four of its last seven games. The Wildcats dropped to 1-2 in the ECC following a 17-7 loss at Molloy last weekend. Ella Bouley scored four goals in a 16-2 win over STAC and leads the team in goals (26), assists (11), points (37), ground balls (27), caused turnovers (15) and draw controls (37). Dana Bacher scored five times during a 20-1 win over Malone and has totaled 21 goals. Sophomore Avery Castner has totaled 22 points (15 gls, 7 asts) and 21 ground balls, while classmate Kylie Miranto has totaled 19 points (14 gls, 5 asts) and 31 draw controls. Additional production has come from junior Olivia Wade (16 gls) and freshmen Cadence Baran (11 gls, 1 ast), Mikayla Myer (7 gls, 6 ast, 24 draw controls) and Shannen Calandra (6 gls, 8 asts). The Daemen defense, led by sophomores Jenna Havert (Newark, N.Y.) and Maddy Carpenter (Hilton, N.Y.), junior Gabi Accurso (Buffalo, N.Y.) and graduate student Aaliyah Deaton (Hickory, N.C.) limited Malone to just 10 total shots and five shots on goal during a 20-1 victory, which ranks as the second fewest shots allowed in game in the two year history of the program. Havert netted her first career goal during the win over STAC and ranks second on the team in ground balls (22). Deaton ranks second in caused turnovers (13). Blair Pfohl has started six games in net and made a career-high 21 saves in a loss to Missouri Western State. Senior transfer Tatiana Wright has started seven games and made a season-high 20 saves in the loss to Molloy last weekend. She leads the ECC in save percentage (.478) and ranks third in both goals against average (11.68) and saves per game (8.56).

SCOUTING DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (0-9, 0-3 ECC)
District of Columbia returns seven players from last year's team that went 1-11 overall and 0-6 in ECC play. UDC is coming off a 21-3 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas last Saturday. Junior Jada Williams returns after scoring a team-high 29 goals last year. She scored seven goals in recent 20-9 loss to West Virginia Wesleyan and has totaled a team-high 18 goals and 22 points this season. Junior Michelle Mitchell scored three goals in a season-opening 17-7 loss to Virginia State and has totaled 12 goals overall. Sophomore goalkeeper Natalia Perkins returns after starting all 12 games as rookie last year. She has started six games this season and is averaging a conference high 12.25 saves per game. She made a season-high 21 saves in a 22-11 loss to Davis & Elkins.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's game marks the second all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Firebirds. Daemen posted a 23-7 victory last year in Washington, D.C.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is idle until next Saturday (April 20) when it travels to Manchester, N.H. to take on nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College in a non-conference game. The Hawks are ranked 22nd in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll.

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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