Oct. 24, 2007

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DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women's soccer team (11-4-2, 5-2-2) will conclude regular season play on the road this weekend in match ups versus Atlantic 10 rivals La Salle and Fordham. Dayton will face the Explorers Friday (October 26) at 5:00 p.m. ET in Philadelphia. On Sunday, UD will take on the Rams (12 p.m. ET) in Bronx, NY.

Sitting in a tie for third place in the A-10 with Saint Louis, Dayton (17 points) will look to gain ground on Conference leader Charlotte (22 points) and runner-up Duquesne (18 points) this weekend in the pivotal two game series. Friday's match can be followed with Gametracker on www.DaytonFlyers.com.

FLYERS RUN INTO TROUBLE IN SEASON HOME FINALES
The Flyers erased a 1-0 deficit early on to force a 1-1 tie with Saint Louis on Friday evening. Sophomore Colleen Gibson blasted a shot from 30-yards out that sailed into the upper right corner of the SLU net for her second goal of the season.

On Sunday, Dayton fell down early once again but came back to even the score before the half on another long goal, this time from 25-yards out by fellow sophomore Mandi Bäck. In the second half, Charlotte went ahead once again as the Flyers fell for the first time in six matches. Senior Niki Reed had two tough saves on the match, despite giving up her most goals conceded since a 2-1 loss to Temple on September 21.

SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS
The Explorers (9-7-0, 3-4-0 A-10) sit at ninth place in the conference and are coming off a 1-1 weekend with a 2-0 loss to Rhode Island and a 2-1 victory over UMass. La Salle is led on the year by Kristin Hextall with 11 goals and four assists, including both scores in the UMass victory. They are 6-2 at home this year, and will be looking for an upset win over Dayton to have a shot at making the A-10 tournament. La Salle is under the direction of Paul Royal, who in his fifth season at the helm holds a record of 36-50-6.

Dayton leads the all-time series 11-2-0.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
Fordham (7-4-3, 4-1-2 A-10) holds the fifth place spot in the conference after a win and a loss on the road over the weekend. The Rams dropped a 1-0 decision to UMass on Friday and then blanked Rhode Island 4-0 on Sunday to remain with only one loss in the conference. They are under the direction of Ness Selmani, who in his 12th year at Fordham and holds a record of 95-104-21.

Dayton leads the all-time series 8-0-1.

"REED"ICULOUS
Goalkeeper Niki Reed is off to a strong year. The senior has eight shutouts in 17 games, which leads the Atlantic 10. Her 14 career shutouts put her in third place on the all-time shutout list at UD. Despite giving up four goals to Cincinnati (the most she's given up to any team in her career), Reed still has a .79 goals against average and a save percentage of .825. She has been named A-10 Player of the Week twice this season. In addition, the senior Flyer made the Soccer America Team of the Week and Soccer Buzz Team of the Week for the week of 10/8. It is the second time this season she's been named to the Soccer Buzz team also earning the honor on 9/6.

BÄCK OF THE NET
Sophomore Mandi Bäck has picked up where she left off last season. The midfielder leads the team in shots (81), goals (12), and points (25). She was tabbed Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Monday Sept. 17 and named to the Soccer America Team of the Week on Tuesday Sept. 18 after her two goal and one assist performance at the Gopher Invitational. Mandi scored her second career hat-trick on 9/30 against George Washington. She is currently 25th in the nation in goals per game with a .706 average. If that weren't enough, Bäck is also the Conference leader in shots and goals.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
For the second straight year, Coach Tucker will have to rely on his youth to step up and add quality minutes for the Flyers. After a season-ending injury to another key starter in Sunday's match with Charlotte, the young got younger. The Flyers are now without four starters from last year's squad, three of which accumulate six goals and five assists this 2007 season. Stepping up hasn't been a problem for the newcomers however, as eight have already seen significant time on the playing field so far this year.

SHARING THE WEALTH
Thirteen different players have scored at least a goal for the Flyers this season. Ten different players have scored at least two goals. Twelve of the Flyers 22 assists have been from different players. By class, goals have been scored by a freshman, a sophomore, a junior, and a senior.

NOT SHOTS, NO GLORY
A little over halfway through the season, the Flyers 35 goals have already topped last year's goal total (29). The team's 335 shots have also surpassed the 2006 total of 258. The Flyers lead the Atlantic 10 Conference in shots and goals.

IN THE RANKINGS
Regionally speaking, Dayton moved from seventh to 10th in the Soccer Buzz Magazine rankings this week.

"D" IS THE KEY
The UD defense has been stifling this year. The backline has posted eight shutouts and is giving up under a goal per game. After giving up a combined 12 shots on goal against Saint Louis and Charlotte, the Flyer defense has now given up 84 SOG's all year, an average of only 4.9 per game.

HOME COOKIN'
Baujan Field, which the Flyers have called home since 1984, has been quite an imposing place for visiting teams. UD has played 206 matches there all-time, compiling an impressive 146-47-13 (.740) 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 in 2004). UD won three times at home last season (3-3-1). This season the Flyers finished the home schedule with a record of 6-2-1 at Baujan Field.

ONE-GOAL WONDERS
Since 2003, (92 matches), more than half (58) have been decided by one goal or less. The Flyers are 33-19-9 in those close-calls, despite going 4-5-3 last season. UD had won 12-straight (including both in the A-10 Championship) in 2004, before the 2-1 loss in overtime to Wisconsin in the NCAA First Round. Last season 12 of UD's 18 matches were decided by a goal or less.

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
All time, UD is 24-13-16 in overtime matches, but an impressive 18-6-12 under Tucker. The loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament First Round three years ago was UD's first overtime defeat since the 1999 season. This season, the Flyers are 4-0-2 in overtime matches.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's matches, the Flyers will have a week off before heading to Charlotte, NC for the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Nov. 8-10.