Game Notes vs. Colorado College/Air Force
The University of Dayton women’s soccer team takes a 2-0 record on the road, travelling to Colorado Springs, Colo. for games against Colorado College (Friday, Aug. 27) and Air Force (Sunday, Aug. 29).
SERIES INFORMATION
• This is the first time Colorado College and Dayton have faced off in women’s soccer.
• UD won its lone meeting against Air Force, 3-0 on Sept. 24, 2000.
FLYER NOTES
• Dayton opened the season 2-0 after wins over Butler (1-0 in double overtime) and Toledo (2-1).
• Sophomore Colleen Williams leads the Flyers with five points (2 goals and 1 assist).
• Alexis Garcia scored the game-winning goal against Toledo.
• Juliana Libertin and Tori Oelschlager both have assists to their credit.
• Dayton was picked to win the A-10 this season in a vote by the league’s coaches.
• The Flyers return 16 players from the team that posted a 16-1-6 record and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Dayton returns eight starters, including the entire defense which boasted a school-record 15 shutouts in 2009.
• Last year’s UD team also captured the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championship.
UP NEXT
Dayton hosts Ohio State at Baujan Field on Friday, Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. ET and is a part of UD’s Welcome Back Weekend. In addition to double Red Scare points for students in attendance, the first 300 fans through the gate get a coupon for a free hot dog, pop and chips redeemable during halftime at the UD concession stand (located on the top of the terrace at Baujan Field). T-shirts and pizzas will randomly be passed out during the game.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
COLORADO COLLEGE
• Friday’s game against the Flyers will be the season opener for Colorado College.
• The Tigers return six starters from the 2009 team that went 12-6-2.
• Sophomore forward Brittany Lyman is the leading returning scorer (9g, 1a), while senior Tiffany Brown (5g, 6 a) is the leading returner in assists.
• The Tigers have made nine NCAA appearances with the most recent coming in 2006.
• Women’s soccer is the only NCAA D-I women’s sport at Colorado College; the rest of the women’s sports are NCAA D-III.
AIR FORCE ACADEMY
• Air Force split a pair of matches to open the season, downing CSU-Pueblo 3-0 and falling 2-0 at Northern Colorado.
• Freshman Megan Dozier scored two goals, and sophomore Sophia Lockerby scored one goal for the Falcons vs. CSUP.
• Air?Force returns 15 letterwinners, including eight starters in 2009. The Falcons also welcome seven freshmen.
• The Falcons return leading scorer sophomore Stephanie Patterson and two-time All-MWC?selection junior Bridgett Murphy.
• Dayton freshman Andrea Todak and Air Force junior Krystin Shanklin both hail from Thousand Oaks, Calif., and attended Westlake High School.
WILLIAMS NAMED A-10 POTW
Colleen Williams was honored as the Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week following the first weekend of the 2010 season (Aug. 23). She was in on all three Flyer goals, tallying five points on two goals and an assist, leading Dayton to a pair of wins. The midfielder netted the game-winner in a 1-0 double overtime victory over Butler Friday in the season opener. She gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute and found Alexis Garcia for the eventual game-winning assist in the 63rd minute in a 2-1 win over Toledo Sunday.
FLYERS ARE IN SEVERAL NATIONAL POLLS
The Flyers are receiving 41 votes in the latest NSCAA national poll, coming in at No. 28. LSU (43 votes) and USC (45 votes) are directly ahead of UD. Dayton is No. 1 in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional ranking. The Flyers moved up one spot to No. 20 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 Poll. UD is No. 36 in the 2010 TopDrawerSoccer Tournament 64 Ranking.
TOPDRAWERSOCCER TOP 20 PLAYERS TO WATCH
TopDrawerSoccer compiled a list of “College Players to Watch” Women’s Top 20 for each conference and Dayton dominated the Atlantic 10 selections. There were six UD players named as “A-10 College Players to Watch”. Representing the Flyers were: senior Kelly Blumenschein, juniors Kathleen Beljan, Kelsey Miller and Emily Kenyon, and sophomores Colleen Williams and Katherine Boone.
KATHLEEN BELJAN MAKES UD HISTORY
Flyer junior defender Kathleen Beljan became the first-ever UD women’s soccer player to be named to the Missouri Athletic Club’s 2010 Hermann Trophy Watch List. Considered the highest individual honor in intercollegiate soccer, the recipient of the MAC’s Hermann Trophy is selected by Division I head coaches who are current members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
KELLY BLUMENSCHEIN NAMED TO SENIOR CLASS LIST
University of Dayton women’s soccer player Kelly Blumenschein has been selected as a candidate for the 2010 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. She is one of 30 student-athletes in the country to be considered for the prestigious honor that celebrates a senior’s commitment to the community, classroom, competition and character.
SIX FLYERS HONORED ON A-10 PRESEASON TEAMS
The defending Atlantic 10 champion University of Dayton Flyers dominated the 2010 preseason women’s soccer All-Conference team, as selected by the league’s head coaches. Those named to the Preseason team for UD were: Katherine Boone, Kathleen Beljan, Kelsey Miller and Colleen Williams. Juliana Libertin and Maggie Murnane were named to the preseason All-Rookie Team.
DAYTON’S SHUTDOWN “D”
The Flyers return every player on their defense that posted a school-record 15 shutouts. Their shutout percentage (.652) was seventh in the NCAA rankings summary. In addition, the Dayton defense had the second-best goals against average (GAA) in the nation at .406 and was paramount in Dayton reaching the 2009 NCAA second round after posting a shutout against No. 23 Marquette. A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Katherine Boone posted a .41 GAA, breaking the A-10 record set by former U.S. National Team goalkeeper Briana Scurry.
FLYERS PICKED TO WIN IT ALL
For the second consecutive year, Dayton has been selected to claim the Atlantic 10 women’s soccer title in voting conducted by the league’s head coaches. The Flyers posted an impressive 16-1-6 overall record en route to the program’s sixth A-10 title and second round appearance in the NCAA Championship. Under the direction of reigning A-10 Coach of the Year Mike Tucker, Dayton returns five All-Conference selections including 2009 Defensive Player of the Year Katherine Boone, along with Rookie of the Year Colleen Williams. The six-team A-10 Women’s Soccer Championship will be held Nov. 4-7 at the URI Soccer Complex in Kingston, R.I.
TWO SELECTED TO “SOPHOMORES TO WATCH”
UD’s Katherine Boone and Colleen Williams have been selected as “sophomore stars for 2010” by TopDrawerSoccer.com, which compiled a list of the Atlantic 10’s top six sophomore prospects for the upcoming year. Boone posted 71 saves and allowed just nine goals in 22 games. Williams, a playmaking midfielder, started all 23 games for the Flyers. She dished out nine assists and put away seven goals, piling up 23 points, which was third-best on the team. Williams led all freshmen in scoring and assists, and garnered A-10 Rookie of the Year honors.
TERRIFIC TUCKER
Head Coach Mike Tucker’s Flyer squads are 121-22-8 in A-10 play. He is the only active coach in the A-10 to achieve more than 100 women’s soccer A-10 wins. In 2009, the Flyers claimed the A-10 tourney title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Tucker was named the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. The Flyers earned a league record 13th consecutive trip to the 2008 Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Championship and dealt Fordham a 2-1 loss in the semifinals to give Tucker his 200th career victory. He went on to be named the Ohio Coach of the Year. UD has won eight of the 15 conference regular season titles. In addition, his teams have won the A-10 Tournament Championship six times (1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009). He has never had a losing season as head coach of the Dayton Flyers.
FLYER SUCCESS
The Dayton women’s soccer program owns an overall record of 342-147-41 (.685 winning percentage) since it became a varsity program in 1984. The Flyers made NCAA Tournament Appearances in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009.
MANDI BÄCK CONTINUES HER SOCCER CAREER
Mandi Bäck, the former Flyer All-American forward is currently a member of the Boston Aztecs of the Women’s Premiere Soccer League, the official reserve team for the Boston Breakers of Women’s Professional Soccer.
