Women's Lacrosse: Schedule Set For Sophomore Season

All Home Games To Be Played At Buffalo State University's Coyer Field

1/30/2024 1:18:00 PM

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

AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen University women's lacrosse coach Dominique Hamman has announced the schedule for the program's second season, which is slated to get underway next month.

The 17-game schedule features 11 non-conference games and six East Coast Conference contests. Daemen was voted fifth in the preseason ECC coaches' poll which was released today.

The non-conference opponents hail from five different NCAA Division II conferences, three from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), two from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and one from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) and the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10). Two of their non-conference opponents (Walsh University and Dominican University) claimed their conference tournament titles last year, while one (Saint Anselm College) is ranked in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) preseason Division II national poll.

Six of the 17 games will be home games. Those games will be played at Coyer Field on the campus of Buffalo State University while Daemen awaits completion of the West Royal Park athletic complex. Daemen has a unique public-private partnership in place with the Town of Amherst to complete the West Royal Park project, which will include a multi-use stadium complete with an artificial turf playing surface as well as lighted tennis courts and other amenities. This facility will become home to the Daemen lacrosse, soccer and tennis teams upon completion.

The Wildcats open their sophomore season on Feb. 22 at Walsh, which went 16-3 last year and claimed the G-MAC Tournament title. Daemen then hosts Dominican in its 2024 home opener on Feb. 24. Dominican finished 17-2 last year and won the CACC Tournament title.

Daemen will then open the month of March with five-straight road games. The Wildcats will travel to Lock Haven University (Mar. 2) and Gannon University (Mar. 5) of the PSAC, before embarking on a trip to Missouri to face Rockhurst University (Mar. 8), Missouri Western State University (Mar. 10) and William Jewell University (Mar. 12) of the GLVC. Daemen did not play Lock Haven last year and posted a thrilling 14-13 win over Gannon last season. Rockhurst and Missouri Western State both advanced to the GLVC Tournament last year, while William Jewell is a first-year program.

The Wildcats close out the month of March by playing three of four games at home, beginning with back-to-back homes dates with Findlay University (Mar. 15) and Alfred University (Mar. 19). Findlay advanced to the championship game of the G-MAC Tournament last year. Alfred is a NCAA Division III member of the Empire-8 Conference. Daemen opens ECC play with a game at Roberts Wesleyan University on Mar. 23 and hosts St. Thomas Aquinas College in a league game on Mar. 30. RWU went 12-6 last year and advanced to the championship game of the ECC Tournament.

Daemen returns to non-league play on April 1 with a game at Malone University. Malone is a first-year program and a member of the G-MAC. Conference play resumes with a game at Molloy University on Apr. 6 and a home contest against the University of the District of Columbia on Apr. 14. The non-conference portion of the schedule concludes with a trip to Manchester, N.H. to take on Saint Anselm College on Apr. 20. Saint Anselm went 13-5 last year and is ranked No. 16 in the IWLCA preseason poll. The 2024 regular season concludes with conference games at D'Youville University on Apr. 24 and versus Mercy University on Apr. 28. Mercy claimed the ECC Tournament title last year and is ranked No. 17 in IWLCA preseason poll.

Daemen posted a 7-9 overall record and a 2-4 mark in ECC play in its inaugural season last spring. Coach Hamman returns 12 players and welcomes nine newcomers to the 2024 roster. 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 Blair Pfohl (Lockport, N.Y.) is back after starting all 16 games in goal last year and averaging seven saves per 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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