Women's Lacrosse Heads To The Granite State To Battle Nationally Ranked Saint Anselm

4/19/2024 9:54:00 AM

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

OPENING DRAW
The Daemen women's lacrosse team travels to Manchester, N.H. for a non-conference game against nationally-ranked Satint Anselm College Saturday (April 20). The host Hawks are ranked 22nd in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll.

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 (5-9, 2-2 ECC)
Daemen has won five of its last eight games. The Wildcats improved to 2-2 in the ECC following a 22-2 win over District of Columbia last weeklend. 17-7. Ella Bouley scored four goals in a 16-2 win over STAC and leads the team in goals (26), points (41), ground balls (27), caused turnovers (15) and draw controls (41). Dana Bacher scored five times during the win over UDC last weekend and has totaled 26 goals. She has totaled a program-best 69 goals and 81 points over the past two years. Sophomore Avery Castner has totaled 27 points (19 gls, 8 asts) and 22 ground balls, while classmate Kylie Miranto has totaled 22 points (15 gls, 7 asts) and 37 draw controls. Additional production has come from junior Olivia Wade (19 gls, 1 ats) and freshmen Shannen Calandra (7 gls, 15 asts), Mikayla Myer (9 gls, 6 ast, 27 draw controls) and Cadence Baran (13 gls, 1 ast). 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 UDC to just two total shots during tghe 22-2 win last weekend, which ranks as the 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 (23). Deaton ranks second in caused turnovers (13). Senior transfer Tatiana Wright has started eight games in net and made a season-high 20 saves in a loss to Molloy. Among the ECC leaders she ranks first in save percentage (.472), second goals against average (10.50) and fourth in saves per game (7.70). Sophomore Blair Pfohl has started six games in net and made a program-record 21 saves in a loss to Missouri Western State.

CALANDRA NAMED ECC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman Shannen Calandra was honored by the East Coast Conference for her play last week, as was selected the ECC Women's Lacrosse Rookie of the Week. It marks the first time this season that a player form Daemen has earned the honor, and the sixth time in the two-year history of the program that a player from Daemen has been selected ECC Rookie of the Week. Dana Bacher was a three-time selection last year, while Kylie Miranto and Camryn Day both earned the honor once last year. Calandra dished out a program-record seven assists and netted one goal in Daemen's lone game last week, a 22-2 conference win over District of Columbia. Her seven assists broke the previous record of six set by Casey Decatur during a 23-7 win over UDC last year. Calandra has recorded at least one point in 10 of Daemen's 14 games this season. She has totaled a team-high 15 assists on the year and is tied for fourth on the team in points with 22.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM (8-5, 5-3 NE-10)
Saint Anselm is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10). The Hawks fell to 8-5 overall and 5-3 in the NE-10 following a 15-6 loss to nationally-ranked Bentley last Saturday. Saint Anselm posted a 13-5 overall record (8-4 NE-10) and lost to Pace in the semifinals of the NE-10 Tournament last year. Saint Anselm was picked to finish third in the NE-10 preseason poll. Four all-conference players return this season. Junior attack Jess Sullivan is back after totaling a team-high 52 goals and 81 points last year and earning second team All-NE10 honors. She scored five times in a 23-6 win over American International and once again leads the team in goals (33) and points (50). Junior midfielder Alison Ferullo earned third team all-conference honors last year and has totaled 33 goals this season. Additional production has come from juniors Isabella Stuzynski (19 gls, 25 asts) and Maggie Fitzgerald (25 gls, 5 asts) and sophomore Samantha Rivet (14 gls, 10 asts). All-conference defender Erin Doyle also returns. Sophomore goaltender Elizabeth Driscoll returns after earning first team All-NE-10 and NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year last year as a rookie. She has started all 13 games this year (11.22 GAA) and made 13 saves in a 17-3 win over Franklin Pierce last week.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will mark the first ever meeting between the Wildcats and the Hawks.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen returns to East Coast Conference play Wednesday (April 24) when it travels across town to face D'Youville.

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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