Women's Lacrosse Announces 2026 Schedule

11/19/2025 1:00:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Connor Griffin, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications | cgriffin@daemen.edu

AMHERST, N.Y. — Daemen University women's lacrosse head coach Emily Bitka has released the program's 2026 schedule.

The Wildcats will play seven games on their new home field, Royal Park, which opened this fall. Daemen will also hit the road for eight contests. The Wildcats finished the 2025 campaign 5-11, including a 3-3 ECC mark, qualifying for the conference tournament for the first time in the program's young history.

The season starts with trips to Ohio, taking on Lake Erie College (Feb. 19) and Walsh (Feb. 25). Daemen welcomes Findlay for its home opener (March 1), before traveling to Indiana (Pa.) three days later.

Following a trip to Tiffin (March 7), the Wildcats return home to host Gannon (March 11). Daemen then plays Franklin Pierce (March 14) and Southern New Hampshire (March 16) as final tune-ups for conference action.

ECC play begins at home when District of Columbia visits Royal Park (March 21). The Wildcats then head to Molloy (March 26) before hosting Dominican (April 2) for their final non-conference match.

It's then back-to-back home games, with Mercy (April 11) and crosstown rival D'Youville (April 15) coming to Amherst. After a trip to Roberts Wesleyan (April 18), the regular season wraps up with a home game against St. Thomas Aquinas (April 25).

The ECC Championship semifinals are scheduled for April 30, and the finals will take place on May 2.

Daemen returns its top goal scorer in Ella Bouley, who earned First Team All-ECC honors as a junior after netting 25 goals and logging nine assists for 34 points. Bouley also finished second on the team in draw controls (42) last season. Additionally, she caused 16 turnovers and scooped up 27 ground balls.

The Wildcats' top point-leader from last season, Shannen Calandra (Rome, N.Y), also returns. Calandra logged 43 points behind 15 goals and a team-leading 28 assists. Avery Castner (Penn Yann, N.Y.) logged 28 points a season ago, finishing third on the squad in goals (20) while dishing out eight helpers.

On the defensive side, Jenna Havert (Newark, N.Y.) finished tied for the team lead in caused turnovers (20) and was second in ground balls (32), collecting Second Team All-ECC honors in 2025. Kylie Miranto (North Towanada, N.Y.) caused 16 turnovers and picked up 16 ground balls. Junior goalie Molly Evans played in 14 games, making 13 starts and logging a 13.62 goals-against average and making 113 saves.

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 program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWLAX.

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