Game Notes

DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton men’s soccer team (4-4-1) looks to take the momentum from last Sunday’s 5-0 win over Canisius into this weekend’s Atlantic 10 Conference matches against the Rhode Island Rams and Massachusetts Minutemen. Dayton will also begin its defense of last year’s 2009 A-10 Regular Season Championship.

The Flyers came out firing on all cylinders in their final non-conference tune-up against the Griffins. Senior Tommy Watkins had a tremendous day on the pitch with two goals and an assist. In addition, freshman Alex Winrich tallied his first collegiate goal for the Flyers. Redshirt junior Tyler Picard posted his fourth shutout of the season. Picard made four stops for Dayton. Last season he posted six total in 13 games played.

Watkins took the points lead from sophomore forward Evan McCreary (2 G, 2 A)  with three goals on the year and seven points overall. His point total is tied for seventh in A-10 action. Picard’s four shutouts are tied for first in the conference with Xavier’s Justin Marshall. His 0.84 goals against average ranks third in the A-10.

Dayton opens up with URI on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Rhode Island is 2-6-1 this season with wins over Siena and Bryant. Two of URI’s six losses have come from teams ranked in the Top 25 nationally.

Sophomore forward Jamie Eckmayer leads Rhody with a pair of goals for four points on the year. Junior midfielder Reece Markman has a pair of assists to lead the Rams. Junior goalkeeper Peyton Warwick has played 813 minutes this season and has a 2.10 goals against average and a .712 save percentage. Dayton is 10-7 all-time against URI.

UMass enters the weekend with a 1-3-5 record overall and is in the midst of an eight-game home stand. The Minutemen’s lone win has come on their own home turf. UMass holds an 8-7-1 advantage, but lost its last meeting to the Flyers 1-0 in double overtime.

Junior forward Bryant Craft leads the team with four goals (8 points). Senior midfielder Ben Arikian leads with five assists on the year. Senior goalkeeper Chris Piekos has a 1.06 goals against average for the Minutemen and is 0-2-5 this season. Kickoff for Sunday’s game is slated for noon.

After the weekend road trip, the Flyers return home for their final four home matches of the season. Dayton will host Temple and Saint Joseph’s at Baujan Field on Oct. 15 and 17 respectively.