Oct. 10, 2008

Box Score

DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton men's soccer team may have been off for two weeks, but you couldn't tell by its play in their Atlantic 10 opener Friday night at Baujan Field. The Flyers defeated Richmond 4-3, wasting no time getting on the board and continued its scoring prowess. Going into the game, UD was ranked 15th in the nation in scoring offense.

"Our offense has been on all year and once again it got us out of trouble tonight," said UD Head Coach Dennis Currier. "I felt there were moments into the game where we could have finished a little bit better but our combinations up top have been working really well and both pairs of forwards were dangerous all night. I thought (Alex) Torda did a great job getting some goals tonight and if we can keep that up and keep scoring then we're going to be difficult to beat."

Junior Hermann Trophy candidate Alex Torda scored two goals to pace the Flyer attack, his fourth and fifth goals of the season.

"It's a great feeling to open up with this win because we were off for a long time," said Torda. "It is nice to get back out on the field. It's been a while since I've scored, personally. I felt we got back into the swing of things and we fought hard to stay ahead. We knew we had to come out and get this win at home."

It was senior Florian DeCamps who came up with the game-winner for the Flyers (7-2-1, 1-0-0 A-10). DeCamps chipped a shot over the Spider keeper in the 71st minute on an assist from sophomore Tommy Watkins. It is DeCamps' fifth this season, and the third game-winning goal he has scored. Dayton is on a 17-game unbeaten streak when playing at home. They are 14-0-3 dating back to Oct. 28, 2006.

"There is nothing better than starting off with a win in the first game and getting three points," said Currier. "We still have work to do but we want to be playing our best soccer by the end of the year and right now we have good balance and we're looking to have great balance."

The first half was full of offensive fireworks. The first three shots on frame resulted in goals. Dayton started the scorefest on a beautiful set piece play in the 4th minute. After being awarded a free kick, senior Simeon Zapryanov bent the ball from about 25 yards out to the far post where a host of Flyers were crashing the goal. Torda redirected the cross into the back of the net with a snapping header.

Richmond answered moments later when Brennan Lincoln took advantage of a missed clear and drilled a goal on a text-book bicycle kick at the 5:21 mark. The Spiders went up 2-1 in the 12th minute, scoring their second goal on just their second shot on goal. Goalkeeper Brock Tomlinson had a booming punt, settled by Ty Williams who slotted the ball up the middle to Jake Russell who collided with Dayton goalkeeper Tyler Picard. Russell came away with the ball which dribbled over the goal line.

"It was critical that we won tonight's game. We've had a long layoff," said Currier. "We talked about getting the early goal. We had a big let down and let them to get on top, 2-1 but I thought we did a great job fighting back to get the win."

With less than 15 minutes left in the first period, the tables turned. That's when the Flyers hit two bang-bang goals to regain the lead. Torda scored his second goal of the match on another set play. This time junior Zach Weiss sent a corner kick to the opposite post and Torda once again headed the ball to the back of the net for the equalizer at the 31:06 mark.

Just seconds later senior Joe Olwig put the Flyers on top, 3-2. At the 31:18 mark Olwig beat the Richmond keeper one-on-one and slid a shot underneath him and sent the ball right in the middle of the goal mouth.

This first half was played evenly with Dayton notching nine shots to Richmond's eight. The Flyers owned an 18-14 edge on shots at the end of 90 minutes.

The Flyers host George Washington this Sunday, Oct. 12 at Baujan Field for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The game is sponsored by National City and admission is free.

Notes: Dayton is 17-0-1 when scoring three or more goals during Currier's tenure...Currier now has 34 wins at UD, tying him for fourth with Jim Launder.