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LOCAL RIVALRY RENEWED ON FRIDAY BETWEEN DAYTON & WRIGHT STATE
Riding a three-game unbeaten streak, the Dayton Flyers travel to Fairborn, Ohio as a backyard rivalry is renewed against the Wright State Raiders on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be live video streamed on Wright State's athletic website and available on Gametracker at DaytonFlyers.com.
Dayton, 4-1-2 overall and 2-0-1 in its last three contests, will be wrapping up a three-game road swing. The strong start to the 2007 season is the best for the Flyers since the 2003 campaign. Dayton is coming off a 0-0 tie on Sunday against the Belmont Bruins. Senior goalkeeper Zac Gibbens made six stops for his second shutout of the season.
ABOUT WRIGHT STATE
The Raiders enter Friday's contest on a four-game losing skid. The Raiders lost the majority of their defensive backfield, but return their top four scorers from 2006. However, Wright State hasn't been able to sustain the offensive production generated last season when they averaged 1.72 goals per game. In 2007 the Raiders have only four goals through seven games. Half of those goals were scored by senior Tony Labudovski, which were also the two game-winners this season for Wright State.
QUICKLY ABOUT DAYTON
This is the 51st season of Dayton Flyers men's soccer. UD showcases an all-time record of 379-345-55 (.521) in 2007. The Flyers have had a winning record in eight of the last 10 seasons and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1997 and 1998. Head coach Dennis Currier ranks sixth on the Flyers' all-time list in coaching victories with 21, just three behind John Schleppi.
SERIES STUFF
Wright State leads the all-time series 16-14-3, but the Flyers have won the previous four meetings and are unbeaten in the last seven at 6-0-1. The last time these two squads met was in 2005 when UD won 1-0 at Wright State's Alumni Field.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
One of the reasons for the Flyers' hot start has been the solid play of its defensive core. Led by senior Zac Gibbens, the Flyers have allowed 0.94 goals per game. Sophomores Randy Dennis, Ryan Handbury and Sonny Renner, along with freshman Tommy Watkins have solidifi ed the back and helped UD not allow more than two goals in seven matches this season. In the Atlantic 10, Dayton ranks second in goals allowed with seven and second in goals against average.
THE QUICK STRIKE OFFENSE
Through seven games in 2007, seven different Flyers have recorded at least one goal. This productivity has helped Dayton rank fourth in the Atlantic 10 in goals per game at 1.47. Sophomore Alex Torda leads the team with three goals and ranks tied for second in the Atlantic 10 in goals and tied for fourth in points per game. Three returning players, Joe Olwig, Simeon Zaprianov and Torda have already matched or eclipsed last season's goal total.
UD RANKED THIRD IN MIDDLE ATLANTIC REGION
With a strong start to the 2007 season, the Dayton Flyers also tied for third in the latest NSCAA/adidas® Middle Atlantic Regional Rankings. It's the highest UD has been regionally ranked during the Dennis Currier era. Dayton has victories this season over Butler, Eastern Illinois, Sacramento State and Saint Francis.
ZAC ATTACK IN GOAL
Senior Zac Gibbens is tied for the Atlantic 10 lead in victories and ranks second in goals against average and fifth in save percentage. The Loveland, Colo. native is 4-1-2 with a 0.94 goals against average and a .794 save percentage with two shutouts.
FINDING HIS MO-JOE
Since returning from an injury at the beginning of the season, junior Joe Olwig has been nothing but clutch for the Flyers. In three games Olwig has two game-winning goals, matching his career high and leading the A-10. After being scoring just one goal in 11 games last season, Olwig has rebounded and ranks tied for second on the team in goals and third in points.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
The Flyers seem to get better as the game goes on this season holding a 7-3 advantage in goals during the second half this season. Dayton also holds a 48-37 advantage in second half shots as well.
FANTASTICALLY FLORIAN
In his last four games, junior Florian DeCamps has had a goal and an assist for the Flyers. He is close to his career highs set last season in goals (2) and points (5). The Cannes, France native in his last nine games played at UD has six points with two goals and two assists.
CAREER BUILDERS
One of the interesting aspects to the strong start in 2007 has been the number of Flyers who have achieved career bests through six contests. Three players, Alex Torda, Simeon Zaprianov and Sonny Renner, have already reached career highs in points, while senior goalkeeper Zac Gibbens has eclipsed his career best in wins with four.
LENDING A HELPING HAND-BURY
As one of the keys to the Flyer defense, sophomore Ryan Handbury looks to improve on a stellar freshman season in which he earned Atlantic 10 Honorable Mention honors. Handbury was one of three Flyers to start all 17 games in 2006 and scored a goal on eight shots and had an assist. This season, Handbury is one of six Flyers to have started in all seven games.
IMBROGNO HEATS UP ON OFFENSE
With two goals and three assists this season senior Tyler Imbrogno is tied for the UD lead with seven points and ranks among the A-10 leaders in scoring. Imbrogno tallied the game-winner against Sacramento State to go with an assist. At UNC Greensboro, Imbrogno scored a goal in a 1-1 tie. In his last eight regular season games, Imbrogno has nine points with three goals and three assists.
INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF FLYERS
UD has an international flavor on the 2007 roster with six players from overseas. The European players include graduate student Daniel March and sophomore Ryan Handbury who hail from the United Kingdom, graduate student Gary Long from Ireland, Simeon Zaprianov from Bulgaria and Florian DeCamps from France. Sophomore Isaac Kissi is in his first season with UD and is from Ghana.
THREE'S COMPANY
In his coaching career with Dayton, Dennis Currier's teams are 11-0 when scoring three or more goals.
TOMMY TUTONE DIALS IN
One of the top freshmen to chip in early this season has been defender Tommy Watkins. Watkins recorded his first career assist in the Flyers' 2-1 win over St. Francis. Since preseason camp concluded, Watkins has earned a spot on the back line and has helped solidified the UD defense.
INSTANT GRATIFICATION
Dayton is unbeaten this season when they score first going 3-0-1 in four games. Last season the Flyers were 5-1-0 when tallying goal No. 1.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Dayton is on the road for five of its next six games before finishing the 2007 season with five consecutive home contests.
FLYER TRIO DELIVERS IN YOUTH SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Randy Dennis, Alex Torda and Sonny Renner helped their squad win the 2007 US Youth Soccer National Championship Series, the country's most prestigious national youth soccer tournament. The trio helped their team, the Dallas Texans, achieve its third consecutive championship with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Magic. The 2007 US Youth Soccer National Championship Series is the country's most prestigious national youth soccer tournament, providing over 185,000 players on more than 10,000 teams from US Youth Soccer's 55 state associations the opportunity to showcase their soccer skills against the best competition.
MASTERS OF THEIR DOMAIN
Since 1992 the Flyers have excelled at Baujan Field with an 86-34-9 record, good for a .734 winning percentage. Dayton has played well recently going 4-0-1 in its last five home games dating back to the 2006 campaign. Last season UD went 4-3-1 at home. Since becoming the exclusive home to UD soccer, Baujan Field has grown into one of the top soccer venues in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Dayton twice has played NCAA Play-In games at the historic venue -- 1997 and 1998.
UD PICKED TO FINISH 7TH IN A-10
UD men's soccer was selected to finish seventh in the A-10 behind 2006 A-10 Champ Rhode Island, Saint Louis, Charlotte, Richmond, Duquesne and Xavier. Dayton will look to improve upon the prognosticators in order to earn itself a spot in the six-team 2007 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer, scheduled for its own Baujan Field from Nov. 15-18.
GREAT GAMES AT BAUJAN HIGHLIGHT 2007 SCHEDULE
Rivalry games against Xavier and Wright State and five consecutive home games to conclude the regular season remain on the 2007 Dayton Flyers men's soccer schedule. The Flyers released their schedule with 20 regular-season contests with nine home games at Baujan Field. Senior Day will take place at the regular-season finale against Duquesne.
UD TO HOST 2007 ATLANTIC 10 MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
The 2007 A-10 Men's Soccer Championship will be held on November 15-18 at Baujan Field in Dayton, Ohio. This will be the fifth A-10 soccer championship held at Baujan Field since opening in 1992. Baujan Field has played host to a number of post-season soccer events. The Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship was hosted here in 1998 and again in 2002, with the Men's Championship being played in 1996 and 1999.
GREAT GRAD RATES
UD men's soccer's 94 score in the latest GSR (Graduation Success Rate) is one of 12 Flyer teams to reach 90 or above. The University of Dayton is one of the top schools among NCAA Division I institutions and the best in the Atlantic 10 at graduating its student-athletes. Success in the classroom is nothing new for UD student-athletes. The Flyers combined cumulative grade point average is above a 3.0. In addition, UD has had 27 Academic All-Americans in the last six years.
FOLLOW UD SOCCER ONLINE
Fans can follow the action of Dayton men's soccer throughout the year at www.DaytonFlyers.com. The official online host of Flyer men's soccer is home to rosters, statistics and game recaps. Fans can also follow each Flyer home game and selected road contests with GameTracker.
