Rockville Centre, N.Y. (Oct. 28, 2017) – Led by a hat trick from freshman Dana Poetzsch (Hicksville, N.Y.), the Molloy women's soccer team defeated the Daemen Wildcats, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at John A. Darcy Field. The Lions, who improved to 8-7-2 overall and 5-3 in ECC play, clinched a berth in the 2017 East Coast Conference Tournament with the win. Freshman keeper Jackie Carty (East Islip, N.Y.) made three saves for her seventh shutout of the season.

The maroon and white, which outshot Daemen 17-6, opened the scoring in the 31^st minute after Poetzsch finished a pass from freshman Lauren Marinello (Merrick, N.Y.). Molloy extended its lead in the 45^th minute, Poetzsch tapped in a pass from junior Amanda Milazzo (Setauket, N.Y.) with one second left in the first half to make it 2-0.

Poetzsch completed the hat trick in the 84^th minute, off of a pass from graduate student Kayla Roundsman (Islip Terrace, N.Y.), to bring the home team's advantage to 3-0.

The Lions will play in the ECC Tournament for the first time since 2011 Wednesday, Nov. 1. For information on the opponent and match time check molloylions.com