BUFFALO, N.Y. – The D'Youville University men's soccer gets ready to host Molloy University in the quarterfinals of the ECC Tournament on Thursday. With their win over Daemen on Saturday, the Saints clinched the first ECC Playoff berth in program history.
 
Under the direction of first-year head coach Sean Hallas, DYU finished the regular season with a record of 5-7-4 (3-2-3 ECC), marking an incredible turnaround from a winless 2023 campaign. When asked how they were able to achieve such a quick turnaround, Hallas said "There was already talent within this squad before my arrival, but they needed help around them to succeed… There is plenty of quality players out there to recruit but to find the right personalities to bring on board with a program that was 0-13 in the previous year, that is what I am proud of most with this current group and shows we recruited the right student athletes."
 
Ahead of the postseason, the Saints had four players receive ECC All-Conference honors. Freshman Shawn Richardson (Thailand, Sweden) was named to the Second Team and senior Sean Burke (Coventry, England), sophomore Ethan Robinson (Toronto, Ontario), and freshman Conor Livingstone (Derby, England) were all named to the Third Team. Robinson and Richardson led the team in scoring with five goals, good for tenth in the conference, and Robinson held the team lead in assists with four.
 
Molloy finished the season with a 6-7-4 (3-2-3 ECC) record with D'Youville holding the regular season tiebreaker. Sean Salgueiro was eighth in the conference in goals with six and scored three game-winning goals, which was fifth in the conference. Lions' goalkeeper Callum Hunt was named ECC Rookie of the Year after finishing fourth in goals against average (1.355) and fifth in save percentage (.761). When the Saints faced the Lions earlier this season, the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw. "We are coming up against a team that has been coached well all season and has threats across the field," said Hallas when asked about preparing to face Molloy for the second time this year. "It is our job to quiet their threats throughout the game and play to our strengths as we have done over the past few weeks. We have players across the field that can hurt any team within Division II it's just about having the belief and mentality to get it done."
 
When DYU hosts Molloy at Dobson Field at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, it will be the first ECC playoff game held at home in D'Youville history. "It's a step in the right direction for the program and a good bench marker for the young players in the team… There is still a lot more to come within this team whether it be this year or in future seasons," says Hallas ahead of the matchup.