Sept. 16, 2005
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DAYTON, OH -- The UD men's soccer team meets Marshall at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Baujan Field in game two of the Dayton Marriott Flyer Classic. Cal Poly and Duquesne gets the tournament underway at 4:00 p.m. On Sunday, Duquesne meets Marshall at noon, with Dayton and Cal Poly following immediately after. Dayton has won eight straight home matches, dating back to 2003.
The Flyers are the defending champions of the third Classic, taking last year's title with victories over Wright State and Evansville.
THIS YEAR'S FIELD
This year's Dayton Marriott Flyer Classic features Cal Poly, Duquesne and Marshall. Dayton enters the tournament with a 1-2 record and coming off back-to-back 1-0 losses in California. The Flyers will meet Cal Poly and Marshall at the tournament, but not fellow Atlantic 10 Conference member Duquesne. Duquesne is 2-1 on the year with wins over Western Michigan and St. Bonaventure (a non-conference game) and a loss to No. 20 Binghamton. Travis McKenzie leads the Dukes with two goals and an assist on the year. Marshall is 2-2 in 2005, with wins over Temple and Cleveland State and losses to Campbell and Pittsburgh. Kirk Gibson has scored three goals for the Herd. Cal Poly is also 2-2 with wins over Eastern Illinois and Western Kentucky. The Mustangs have losses versus Portland and No. 22 Washington. Marcus Griffin and Nikhil Erlebach lead Cal Poly with two goals each.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Senior Nick Tarkany will most likely start in goal. Tarkany owns a 1.25 GAA with 16 saves in three games for a .800 save percentage. Senior Steve Ladislaw will back up Tarkany. He rejoined the Flyers for a fifth season following a red-shirt year as a freshman. Greg Robertson and freshman Alex Davis provide goalkeeper depth for the Flyers.
TWO OR BUST
Tallying two or more goals in a game almost always get the Flyers a win. UD is 48-5-4 since the start of 2000, including 1-0 this season.
HOME COOKIN'
Dayton has not lost at Baujan Field since October 31, 2003, a stretch of eight-straight wins. The Flyers were a perfect 7-0-0 at home last season. Dayton is 35-8-1 at Baujan Field since the start of 2000.
JARUN THE A-10'S LEADING RETURNING SCORER
Omar Jarun was named to the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team in a vote among the 14 coaches of the conference. Jarun is the leading returning scorer in the A-10 this season having racked up nine goals in 2004. A Second Team All-Conference pick last season, Jarun finished second in the conference in goals last year with nine and tied with graduated senior Tye Stebbins for fifth in the Atlantic 10 in points with 20. The 6-5 transfer from Memphis also led the Atlantic 10 in game-winning goals with five last year.
COACH CURRIER
Dennis Currier takes over the Dayton program from University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, where he turned in a four-year record of 62-15-7 with four-straight conference championships. UIW was ranked fifth nationally with a record of 18-4-1 in 2004 and earned a trip to the NCAA tournament's round of eight. Currier has coached eight NSCAA All-Americans, two NSCAA Scholar All-Americans, three conference Players of the Year, 57 academic all-conference student-athletes, 12 of whom were named academic all-region. Thirteen of his players have gone on to play professionally. His teams had the highest GPA in the conference two of his four seasons at UIW. Currier's career coaching record is 188-49-12. His winning percentage of .779 is third among coaches now coaching at the Division I level, and 17th among active coaches at all divisions.
LOOK WHO'S BACK
Dayton returns 18 letter winners from last year's 11-7-1 squad. Seniors Omar Jarun and Nate Darr were Second Team All-Conference picks last year. Jarun is the A-10's leading returning scorer. The Flyers also return six other starters from 2004. Seniors Dan Hartwig and Ian Mulligan and red-shirted junior Devin McKenney join Darr on the UD backline. Junior Antti Arst and senior Dasan Robinson are back in the midfield, with sophomore Aaron Swanson joining Jarun up top. The Flyers have a total of 12 seniors on the roster, including transfers Terry Alvino and Lubomir Bogdanov. MF Oliver Condell, MF George Nanchoff, MF Brennen Randquist, GK Nick Tarkany and Steve Ladislaw are back for their senior campaigns.
INTRODUCING...
The Flyers' roster features 12 newcomers, highlighted by two All-America transfer students. Three-time All-America pick Lubomir Bogdanov (Sofia, Bulgaria) and 2004 NSCAA honoree Terry Alvino (St. Louis, MO) join the UD program after following coach Currier to Dayton from Incarnate Word. Both players are seniors and are in their last year of eligibility. Midfielder Jonathan Welsh also comes to the Flyers via transfer. Welsh (Sugarland, TX) joins UD as a junior after leaving Creighton. Eight freshman round out the newcomers. Goalkeeper Alex Davis (Minneapolis, MN), D Josh Paulus (Elkton, MD), D Lawrence DeGeest (Hinsdale, IL), D Jeff Boyer (Fenton, MO), MF Troy Thompson (Diego Martin, Trinidad), MF Ryan Hefley (Las Cruces, NM), MF Joe Olwig (St. Charles, MO), F Caleb Lindemann (Carmel, IN) round out the Flyers newcomers. It's believed to be the first time in school history the entire freshman class does not have a player from Ohio.
THE NEXT LEVEL
Former Flyer Chris Rolfe continues his stellar rookie campaign in the MLS. The 29th pick of the 2005 SuperDraft is tied for second on the Chicago Fire in scoring with six goals. He also picked up a goal in a friendly against European superpower A.C. Milan. Rolfe is the third Flyer to play in the MLS, with Denny Clanton (Chicago Fire, 2004) and Mark Schulte (Tampa Bay Mutiny, 1997; Columbus Crew, 2005).
LIVE STATS AT DAYTONFLYERS.COM
Through College Sports Online's Gametracker feature the Flyers will once again have live stats for all home matches available online at DaytonFlyers.com. Some road matches also may have Gametracker.
NEW LOOK ATLANTIC 10
The Flyers have more competition for the Atlantic 10 title as Charlotte and Saint Louis have joined the conference for 2005. With 14 schools, the A-10's men's soccer schedule will consist of only nine A-10 games. The Flyers will play Charlotte this season, but not face the Billikens. SLU is a national power, ranked No. 25 in preseason.
NEXT TIME OUT
After the Dayton Marriott Flyer Classic wraps up Sunday, the Flyers continue tournament action next weekend at the Aces Soccer Classic in Evansville. Dayton will meet No. 11 Missouri State (formerly Southwest Missouri State) and host Evansville.
