Nov. 6, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format | Championship Information | Championship Bracket

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women's soccer team will make its 11th consecutive appearance in the Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship on Thursday, Nov. 8. The Flyers will face the Saint Louis Billikens in the second opening round match scheduled for 8 p.m. ET at Transamerica Field on the campus of UNC-Charlotte.

The Thursday match features two-time defending champion and fourth-seeded Saint Louis (10-5-2,7-2-2) versus five-time champion and fifth-seeded Dayton (12-4-3,6-2-3). UD is led by dynamic sophomore Mandi Bäck, who has tallied a team-high 30 points on 14 goals and two assists this season, with five of her 14 goals as game-winners.

Earlier in the season, the Flyers tied the Billikens 1-1 in double overtime as Colleen Gibson scored the lone goal for UD. The last time the two programs met in tournament play was in 2005 when Dayton was ousted in the semifinals 1-0.

Charlotte earned the top seed after winning the A-10 regular season title. The 49ers have won eight of its last nine matches while outscoring its opponents by a 17-4 margin during that span.

Fordham took the second seed (10-4-4, 7-1-3) and also earned a bye as a result of its second-place finish during the regular season, equaling the program's highest-ever finish. Vying for their first-ever Conference Championship, the Rams yielded one goal or less in 15 of their 18 matches.

Third-seeded Duquesne (11-6-0, 8-3-0) will open up the 2007 Championship against sixth-seeded Richmond (7-11-2,6-4-1) at 5:30pm on Thursday, Nov. 8. The Spiders won three of their final four matches to advance to the Championship for the first time since 2004. UR claimed its lone A-10 women's soccer title in 2002.

Single-day tickets can be purchased for $6 (adult), $4 (child), $3 (A-10 student with ID). All games can be followed with Gametracker on www.DaytonFlyers.com. Web streaming will also be available for all matches on www.Atlantic10.org.

SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
The Billikens, who concluded the regular season with a 10-5-2 overall record and a 7-2-2 mark in conference play, are aiming for a third successive A-10 Tournament crown. Saint Louis has captured the title in each of its first two seasons in the league, defeating Rhode Island and Fordham last season and downing Dayton and Rhode Island two years ago. Saint Louis is vying to become only the second team to collect three consecutive A-10 Tournament titles. Massachusetts accomplished the feat from 1993-95.

SLU is led by Cassi Winchell and Alyssa Mautz with five goals each. Winchell has two assists on the season, while Mautz leads the team with four game-winners. Saint Louis is coached by Tim Champion who in his 11th year and boasts a 138-67-20 record at Saint Louis.

Saint Louis leads the all-time series 2-0-1.

"REED"ICULOUS
Goalkeeper Niki Reed is off to a strong year. The senior has eight shutouts in 19 games, which puts her second in 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 .81 goals against average and a save percentage of .833. 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 (91), goals (14), points (30), and game-winners (5). 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 18th in the nation in goals per game with a .737 average. If that weren't enough, Bäck is also the Conference leader in game-winning goals and shots.

BLOOMIN' AND SHININ'
Freshman Kelly Blumenschein has made a impressive debut for the Flyers this season. The rookie Flyer has tallied two goals and three assists (all of which have come during conference play) so far. She had a game-winner in the game against versus Oakland on 9/23.

ALLI TALLIES
Senior Alli Foust is having a career-best season. She has played in all 19 games this year almost as many as she had played in her first three years at Dayton (22). After scoring no goals and only one assist in 2006, this season alone she has collected two goals and three assists.

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 a match against Charlotte on 10/21, 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. Thirteen of the Flyers 24 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 38 goals have already topped last year's goal total (29). The team's 359 shots have also surpassed the 2006 total of 258. The Flyers lead the Atlantic 10 Conference in shots.

IN THE RANKINGS
Regionally speaking, Dayton remained in the 11th spot 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 13 shots on goal against La Salle and Fordham, the Flyer defense has now given up 97 SOG's all year, an average of only 5.1 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, (82 matches), more than half (49) have been decided by one goal or less. The Flyers are 29-15-8 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 nine of UD's 18 matches were decided by a goal or less.

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
All time, UD is 21-13-15 in overtime matches, but an impressive 15-6-11 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, Dayton is 4-1-2 in overtime matches.