Aug. 11, 2006

The 2006 University of Dayton women's soccer team has arrived on campus and kicked off preseason practice Friday morning with a fitness test, followed by team training. Head Coach Mike Tucker enters his 12th year at the helm of the women's soccer program and boasts a very young and talented squad welcoming 28 players to campus, including 10 newcomers. Dayton will kick off its regular season August 25 with an away game against the University of Toledo.

"It was great to be back out there again," Tucker said, "We had a great start to our preseason, now we need to get organized and get better every time we step out there."

In 2005, the Flyers finished 10-7-3 overall and 5-3-1 in A-10 play, ending the season in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship. Despite losing six starters, including 2005 A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Reba Sedlacek, the midfield returns three starters from a year ago. Included in the returning lineup are juniors Kristen Persichini and Courtney Sirmans, who was a 2006 Preseason All-Atlantic 10 pick.

Additionally, the Flyer defense will be backed up by 2005 First Team All-Atlantic 10 goalkeeper Niki Reed, who posted a .84 goals against average one year ago. Defensively, 2006 Preseason All-Atlantic 10 pick Stephanie Wurth is the lone returning starter for the Flyers.

The Flyer women will look to their youth to spark the team, as they return only one senior and welcome a strong freshman class highlighted by Mandi Bäck (forward/midfielder), Tasha Dittamore (goalkeeper) and Emily Miller (midfielder/defender) who were all recently named to the Preseason Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.

The 2006 slate is composed of 19 games, nine of which will be played at Baujan Field, with two preseason exhibition games. Overall, the Flyers will face four teams that advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament (#27 Saint Louis, Bowling Green, #20 Pepperdine, #30 California.)

The women will practice twice a day for the next six days, leading up to an exhibition game with Bowling Green at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, August 18 at Baujan Field.

You can follow a daily preseason journal kept by sophomore Stephanie Wurth on DaytonFlyers.com. Update No. 1 will be posted on Tuesday, August 15.

There has also been a recent change to the University of Dayton women's soccer schedule. The Flyer women were scheduled to play Michigan State in East Lansing on August 27, but that game has been dropped from the schedule.