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Sept. 15, 2005

DAYTON - The University of Dayton women's soccer team will put its five-match unbeaten streak and 14-match home winning streak on the line tonight, hosting Wright State University at Baujan Field at 7:30 p.m. The Flyers (3-1-2), who are receiving votes in three of the four national polls, are coming off a second-place finish at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic with a pair of ties against nationally-ranked competition. Following Thursday's match, UD travels to Butler Sunday and then opens Atlantic 10 play at Xavier a week later.

IN THE POLLS
After ending last season ranked 20th by Soccer Buzz, the Flyers find themselves receiving votes in three of the four national polls. UD is getting votes in both Top 25 polls selected by coaches -- the NSCAA/adidas and the Soccer Times poll. Dayton is also getting votes in the Soccer Buzz Top 30 poll. Regionally speaking, UD is up to fifth (from sixth) in the NSCAA/adidas Great Lakes Region poll and up to sixth (from seventh) in the Soccer Buzz poll.

FLYERS TAKE SECOND AT VIRGINIA NIKE SOCCER CLASSIC
Regarded as one of college soccer's premier in-season tournaments, the Flyers took a tie for second place with William & Mary. The field was comprised of four teams -- UD, sixth-ranked Virginia, 25th-ranked William & Mary, Tennessee -- that all advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament and who were all at least receiving votes in the national polls. UD's 0-0-2 record was matched by W&M. Tennessee won the tourney with a 1-0-1 mark, while Virginia's four-year run of winning its own tournament ended with a 0-1-1 record. Three of the four matches ended in double-overtime ties, with the only decision being a thrilling last-second goal by Tennessee to upset Virginia Friday night.

CARBAJAL NAMED A-10 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman forward April Carbajal, who missed all last season with an injury, had her first career start Friday against No. 25 William & Mary, collected her first career assist and ripped a career-best and game-high four shots. Her assist helped set up UD's only goal, as the Flyers took an early 1-0 advantage on the nationally-ranked Tribe in the 18th minute. Sunday versus No. 6 Virginia, Carbajal came off the bench to score her first college goal, which gave UD the 2-1 lead in the 37th minute. The Flyers would hold that lead until the 89th minute and then tie the Cavaliers, 2-2, on their home field.

SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
The Raiders are off to a 3-2-0 start in 2005 and had won three in a row before a 2-0 loss to Ball State Sunday. Kim Chianese and Jodie Shoaf lead the offense with a pair of goals each. Shoaf has two of the game-winning goals. In goal, Steph Comisar has played all 450 minutes with a 1.00 goals against average.

THE SERIES
The Flyers lead the overall series with Wright State 17-4-1 and have won six straight and eight of the last 10. Last year, UD needed overtime to beat the Raiders 1-0 in Fairborn on a goal from Kristen Persichini. WSU's last win in the series came at Baujan Field in 1996.

SCHEDULE STRENGTH
The Flyers' 2005 slate features five teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year - Texas, West Virginia, Virginia, William & Mary and Furman. Three of those teams were ranked in Soccer Buzz's Preseason Top 30 (Virginia at No. 5, West Virginia at No. 11, Texas at No. 27). UD is one of six teams receiving votes.

SEDLACEK LEADS OFFENSE EARLY
It should come as no surprise that the defending A-10 Offensive Player of the Year is leading the Flyers' offense once again. Senior forward Reba Sedlacek has seven points on the season with three goals, an assist and game-winning goals against Ohio and Furman. She struck for UD's first goal against Virginia, which evened the match at 1-1 midway through the first half Sunday. Now with 30 career goals, she is two away from cracking UD's top five list of career goal scorers.

HOME WIN STREAK
UD is currently riding a streak of 14 consecutive wins at home dating back to last season, which is the second-longest streak in team history. The record is 17 straight wins between 2000 and 2002.

HOME SWEET HOME
Baujan Field, which the Flyers have called home since 1984, have made it quite an imposing place for visiting teams. UD has played 184 matches there all-time, compiling an impressive 136-40-10 (.758) record in that period. Dayton has never lost more than five times in one season (5-5-0 in 1996) and has been perfect at home three times (6-0-0 in 2001 and 8-0-0 in 1987 and 8-0-0 last season). UD has already won twice at home this year, beating Furman and Cincinnati to take the Nike Dayton Flyer Invitational title over Labor Day weekend.

UD PICKED AS A-10 FAVORITE
In the preseason poll of Atlantic 10 coaches, the Flyers were voted as the favorite to win the league and defend their title. Conference-newcomer Saint Louis, which is off to a 4-2 start this year, was tabbed second, followed by Richmond and Rhode Island. The other A-10 newcomer, Charlotte, rounded out the top five.

HEAD COACH Mike Tucker
Now in his 11th season at the helm, head coach Mike Tucker continues to climb the charts among the NCAA's winningest coaches. With a career winning percentage of .731 (154-55-5) entering 2005, Tucker ranks 11th on the NCAA's Division I active coaches list and 29th on the all-time list (includes all divisions).

WINNING WAYS
Since 2000, the women's soccer team owns the seventh-best winning percentage of any program at the NCAA Division I level. Entering this year, UD was 84-23-2 between 2000 and 2004, a winning percentage of .780.

ONE-GOAL WONDERS
Since 2003, (50 matches), more than half (29) have been decided by one goal or less. The Flyers are 22-3-4 in those close-calls, including an incredible 12-2-0 last season and already 3-0-2 this year. UD had won 12-straight (including both in the A-10 Championship) last year, before the 2-1 loss in overtime to Wisconsin in the NCAA First Round. Already this season, UD's last five decisions have been by one goal or less.

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
The Flyers were 3-1-0 in their overtime matches last season and are 0-0-2 this season. UD went to double overtime in both matches last weekend and ended with a 1-1 draw to William & Mary and 2-2 deadlock with Virginia. All time, UD is 21-12-11 in overtime matches, but an impressive 15-5-7 under Tucker. The loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament First Round last season was UD's first overtime defeat since the 1999 season.

RECORDS FALL IN 2004
UD ended with a 20-2-0 record, held the nation's longest winning streak at 20 (a UD record) and one of the NCAA's best winning percentages. Additionally, the Flyers broke the school record for wins previously held by the 1999 team that went 18-5-0 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in team history. UD allowed just 12 goals all season and shutout a school-record 13 of its 22 opponents -- the eighth-best percentage (.59) in the NCAA. UD also set a new school record for fewest goals allowed in a season (the old record of 14 was set in 2002).

PICTURE PERFECT
The undefeated run through the A-10 regular season was the Flyers' second perfect conference record in school history. UD went a similar 11-0-0 in 2001, swept through the A-10 Championship and made UD's deepest NCAA run to the Sweet 16. The Flyers went 17-6-0 that season against the toughest schedule in team history. Last year's perfect run helped the Flyers clinch their seventh-consecutive A-10 regular season title and record eighth overall. UD allowed A-10 opposition to score a league-low three goals during the regular season as the Flyers tallied a league-leading 28.

DEFENSE DOES IT FOR DAYTON
It is without question the key to the Flyers' success last season was the play of one of the nation's top defenses. UD owned a sparkling 0.53 goals against average, which ranked seventh in the NCAA while its 13 shutouts in 22 matches (59 pct.) was the eighth-highest percentage in the NCAA. The defense, which was led in goal by fifth-year senior Stacy DeLuca, allowed just three tallies in A-10 play and just 12 for the season. DeLuca's 0.57 GAA ranked 11th in the NCAA (also set a new UD single-season records), while both her GAA and shutouts (9) were conference-bests. The Flyers' defensive line of senior Leah Phelps and juniors Alicija Bredlo, Stacy Palumbo and Jacqueline Luehrs limited the opposition to just 169 shots (7.7 per game), while the Flyers averaged nearly 11 more shots per game.

SECOND-HALF BRILLIANCE
Of the 47 goals scored by UD last season, well more than half (27) were netted in the second half. Scoring just 17 first-half goals all season, the Flyers turned on the second-half offense and outscored the opposition 27-6 in the final 45 minutes. When you factor in the four overtime games the Flyers were involved in, that scoring margin increased to 30-7. The Flyers rallied for five unanswered (and a season-high four in the second-half) in a 5-1 rout of Rhode Island during the regular season.