Women's Lacrosse Returns To Conference Play Saturday At Molloy

4/5/2024 10:36:00 AM

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

OPENING DRAW
The Daemen women's lacrosse team heads to Long Island, N.Y. Saturday (April 6) for an East Coast Conference game at Molloy University. The game was originally scheduled for noon, but the start time has been changed to 11 a.m.

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 (4-8, 1-1 ECC)
Daemen has won four of its last six games. The Wildcats evened their ECC record to 1-1 following a 16-2 win over St. Thomas Aquinas last weekend and rolled to a 20-1 win at Malone on Monday. Daemen recently opened ECC play with a 16-7 loss at Roberts Wesleyan. Ella Bouley scored four goals in the win over STAC and leads the team in goals (24), assists (10), points (34), ground balls (26), caused turnovers (15) and draw controls (32). Dana Bacher scored five times during the win over Malone and has totaled 20 goals. Sophomore Avery Castner has totaled 20 points (15 gls, 5 asts) and 20 ground balls, while classmate Kylie Miranto has totaled 18 points (13 gls, 5 asts) and 28 draw controls. Additional production has come from junior Olivia Wade (14 gls) and freshmen Cadence Baran (11 gls, 1 ast), Mikayla Myer (7 gls, 6 ast, 21 draw controls) and Shannen Calandra (5 gls, 7 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, 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 (21). 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 also started six games in net. She made her first start for Daemen against Lock Haven and made 10 saves and equaled her season high for saves (13) in the loss to Roberts Wesleyan.

SCOUTING MOLLOY (5-5, 0-2 ECC)
Molloy returns several key players--including five 2023 all-conference selections--from last year's team that went 12-5 overall and 5-1 in ECC play. The Lions qualified for the ECC Tournament and suffered a 13-7 loss to Roberts Wesleyan in the semifinals. Molloy opened the year with four straight wins, but the Lions are just 1-5 over their last six games and opened ECC play with losses to D'Youvile (11-10) and Roberts Wesleyan (13-7). Junior Megan Rugolo returns after earning first team All-ECC and ECC Attacker of the Year last year. She racked up 51 goals and 86 points last year. She scored four times in the loss to D'Youville and has totaled 35 goals and 45 points on the year. Junior Alexa Amorison was a second team All-ECC pick last year. She scored five times in an early season win over Saint Rose and has totaled 15 goals and 21 points. Senior Joanna Mauceri was a first team All-ECC pick last year and leads the team in grounds balls (25), caused turnovers (25) and draw controls (35) this season. Additional production has come from juniors Sofia Quitoni (16 gls, 6 asts) and Brenna Signorelli (10 gls, 6 asts) and senior Erin Murphy (15 gls). All-conference defenders Reilly Brady and Carly Howell also return. Senior Mary-Kate Sweeny returns in net after starting all 17 games last year. She has all 10 games this season and made a season-high 12 saves in a 14-13 loss at Saint Leo.

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game marks the second all-time meeting between the Wildcats and the Lions. Molloy posted a 21-10 victory in Buffalo last year.

ON THE HORIZON
Daemen is idle until next Sunday (April 14) when it hosts the University of the District of Columbia in an ECC game.

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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