DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton men’s soccer team (9-5-1, 3-3-1 A-10) will honor its two seniors Daniel Berko and Evan McCreary prior to Friday’s match against the UMass Minutemen at 7 p.m. The Flyers will also host Rhode Island on Sunday at 1p.m. on Baujan Field in their final home match of the regular season.
THE LAST TIME OUT
Dayton split its weekend with a 5-0 shutout of Richmond and a tightly-contested 3-2 loss against No. 19 VCU.
A-10 TOURNAMENT PICTURE
Dayton remains in the hunt for its first berth in the Atlantic 10 Championship since 2009 when they captured the A-10 Regular Season Championship. UD is currently tied for sixth with three other squads. Eight teams will qualify for the A-10 Championships held in Charlotte, N.C. beginning on Nov. 8.
ABOUT THE MINUTEMEN
UMass is 5-9-2 and 2-5-0 in conference play this season. The Minutemen need two wins this weekend to be in contention for a berth into the A-10 Tournament. Josh Schwartz has 12 points for UMass this season, scoring five goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Brian Frame has started every game for UMass and has a 1.44 goals against average with five shutouts.
ABOUT THE RAMS
Rhode Island is 4-9-3 and 3-3-1in the A-10. URI is tied with Dayton in sixth place. The Rams picked up wins at home against Duquesne and St. Bonaventure last weekend, but are 2-3 in their last five games. Matt Ribbens and Mike Casey each have five goals and three assists to lead Rhody with 13 points. Goalkeeper Thomas Spenser has seen most of the work between the pipes this season. Spenser has a 1.90 goals against average and three shutouts.
FIVE GOALS FOR FLYERS
Dayton’s 5-0 win against Richmond was the first five-goal outing for the Flyers since Nov. 2, 2008 when UD beat Saint Joseph’s 7-1.
CLEAN SHEET
Freshman goalkeeper Chris Froschauer posted his first collegiate shutout in a 5-0 win over Richmond on Oct. 26. Froschauer is the only true freshman goalkeeper to start every game and play every minute in the nation.
TWO IF BY LAND
Graduate student Eddie Jones found the back of the net twice in UD’s win against Richmond. Jones is third on the team with 14 points.
FEATS OF STRENGTH
Senior Daniel Berko leads the team with eight goals this season. Junior Abe Keller has seven goals and six assists. Both tie for the team-lead in game-winning goals with two apiece and both have 20 points on the year. Berko and Keller’s numbers are career bests for the players.
SCHOONDERWOERD’S HELPERS
Freshman Maik Schoonderwoerd added three assists in UD’s 5-0 win over the Richmond Spiders on Oct. 26. Schoonderwoerd leads all UD freshmen with eight points.
POTENT OFFENSE
Dayton is averaging 2.27 goals per game this season, this is the highest rate of scoring during Head Coach Dennis Currier’s tenure at UD. The next highest scoring rates came in 2008 & 2009 when the the Flyers averaged 2.09 goals per game during the 2008 season that culminated in an Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship and 1.95 goals per game en route to a 2009 A-10 Regular Season Championship.
OFF TO A GOOD START
The Flyers started the year 7-3-1 in their first 11 games of 2012. The last time UD was 7-3-1 at this point was in 2009 when Dayton captured the Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship. UD began the season 4-1 which was the best five-game start for the Flyers since 2003.
KELLER’S KICK
Junior Abe Keller has been on a roll this season. Keller had the game-winning goal in Dayton’s 3-2 win over Ohio State. He found the left upper 90 on a drive from around 40 yards out. Against EIU he scored a similar goal from 30 yards out, and added two assists. Keller was named Co-MVP of the Dayton Marriott Classic for his performance in the match. Keller scored the game-winner against Gardner-Webb in overtime and assisted on the game-winner against IPFW. Keller struck the game-equalizer on a penalty kick against Butler. He scored again in UD’s 5-0 win over Richmond.
BASICALLY BERKO
After a quiet first year on campus, transfer striker Daniel Berko has quickly made a name for himself in his senior campaign. Berko scored his first collegiate hat trick on Aug. 26 against the Kentucky Wildcats. Berko tallied the game-winner to give UD a 2-0 start to the season. Berko also notched a goal against Gardner-Webb in the final minute of regulation to send the game into overtime. He also added an insurance goal in UD’s 4-1 win over IPFW. Berko has scored in each of his last three games.
BERKO’S ACCOLADES
Senior Daniel Berko was picked to the College Soccer News’ National Team of the Week after his hat trick against Kentucky on Aug. 26. He also earned the Atlantic 10’s Player of the Week honors.
ANDRES’ ACE
Junior midfielder Andres Acevedo had a goal and an assist in UD’s 4-3 win over Kentucky. Acevedo headed in a redirection from Greg Enstone on a corner kick for his first goal of the year. He also scored a goal in the Flyers 3-2 win over then-No. 22 Furman. Acevedo’s magic paid off again with a game--winning goal against EIU on Sept. 9. Acevedo scored the game-insuring goal against Butler on Oct. 5. He found the back of the net again in a 3-2 loss against VCU.
NATIONAL NOTORIETY
The University of Dayton has been ranked as high as 23rd (Soccer America) this year in the polls. Dayton has either received votes or been ranked in every major national collegiate poll this season.
PENALTY KICKS
Technically speaking, the Flyers are 2-for-3 on penalty kicks this season. However, on UD’s lone miss, junior forward Abe Keller was able to score on his own PK rebound. Keller and Greg Enstone each have PK goals this year.
MORE NATIONAL NOTES
UD has the ninth best scoring offense in the nation (2.27 GPG). The men rank 16th in saves per game (5.73), 17th in total goals (34), 18th in total points (99) and 25th in total assists (31).
FROSCHAUER’S NATIONAL NOTES
Freshman keeper Chris Froschauer is ranked 13th in the nation in total saves (84) and 18th in saves per game (5.6).
RACKING UP THE GOALS
UD averages 2.27 goals per game, leading the Atlantic 10. In the first five games, UD scored 14 goals against the opposition. That is the most since 1976 when Dayton put up 17 over the first five games.
KELLER SELECTED AS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Abe Keller was picked as the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week on Sept. 17. Keller had the game-winning goal in overtime to defeat Gardner-Webb 2-1 on Sept. 14 and also added an assist in the match. On the 15th, Keller had two assists on corner kicks in the Flyers 4-1 victory over IPFW.
FROSCHAUER TABBED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman goalkeeper Chris Froschauer was named the Atlantic 10’s Rookie of the Week on Sept. 10 after his eight-save performance over the EIU Panthers. Froschauer allowed one goal on the weekend.
McCREARY TALLIES TWICE
Senior Evan McCreary had two goals in UD’s home opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
USING HIS HEAD
Senior Evan McCreary scored the game-equalizer on a header against EIU. Dayton went on to a 4-1 win over the Panthers. McCreary assisted on both of UD’s goals against Gardner-Webb. He also had an assist in Dayton’s 4-1 win over IPFW.
McCREARY EARNS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Senior Evan McCreary earned National Offensive Player of the Week honors by College Sports Madness on Aug. 27 after scoring two goals against Ohio State.
FOUR-ASSIST FRENZY
Graduate student Eddie Jones had four assists in his opening weekend of play. Jones assisted on the game-winner against Ohio State. He also tallied his first NCAA goal of the season in a 4-1 win over EIU. Jones scored the opening goal of the game against IPFW and scored in a 2-1 win over Duquesne.
GREG’S GOALS
Sophomore Greg Enstone tallied two goals in Dayton’s exciting win over then-No. 22 Furman in the opening game of the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic. Enstone scored the game-winning goal on an assist from Daniel Berko in the 87th minute against the Paladins.
SCHOONDERWOERD SCORES
Freshman Maik Schoonderwoerd scored his first collegiate goal, redirecting Abe Keller’s corner kick in a 4-1 win over IPFW on Sept. 16. Schoonderwoerd had the game-winner in UD’s 3-1 win over Butler.
LENNING’S FINISH
Freshman defender Chris Lenning tallied his first collegiate goal in a 4-1 trumping of IPFW. Lenning finished a ball in the goal mouth, that was headed by Evan McCreary on a corner kick.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Senior Daniel Berko, junior John Howe and sophomore Greg Enstone were named to the Nike / Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic All-Tournament team. Howe, Eddie Jones, Andres Acevedo and Abe Keller were each named to the Dayton Marriott Classic All-Tournament Team.
BAUJAN, SWEET BAUJAN
The Flyers are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games at Baujan Field.
RED JERSEY
Freshman defender Christopher Lenning earned the team’s Red Jersey. An award presented to the best performer in the preseason for UD. Players accumulate points in games, practices and team challenges.
NEWCOMERS
UD men’s soccer has 16 newcomers on this year’s roster, including four freshmen goalkeepers.
WINNINGEST COACH
Head Coach Dennis Currier became UD’s winningest soccer coach in 2011 recording win number 66, surpassing former head coach Roy Craig who had 65 wins from 1988-1995. In addition, Currier’s wins came in 130 games, which was 31 games less than Craig. Currier holds a .707 lifetime winning percentage with a combined record of 265-102-31.
UNITED NATIONS
This year’s Flyer squad features nine international players. Dayton has student-athletes from Canada, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.
UP NEXT
Following Dayton’s games this weekend, the Flyers will await to see if they have qualified for the Atlantic 10 Championship in Charlotte, N.C. beginning on Nov. 8.
NEW MOBILE STATS
Fans at events and on-the-go can access live stats for all home events from their favorite mobile web-enabled device, including iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry, via a custom mobile domain: FLYERSMOBILE.COM.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow your men’s soccer team all season long on
DaytonFlyers.com, on Twitter @DaytonMSOC and on Facebook at facebook.com/DaytonMensSoccer.
LIVE STREAMING
The University of Dayton men’s soccer team will have the remainder of its home games streamed for free on DaytonFlyers.com. To access visit DaytonFlyers.com.
UPCOMING HOME GAME PROMOS
ALL SEASON: Celebrate your hometown team and earn punches for the 2012 UD Men’s Soccer Scarf. Fans that have six games punched will get a commemorative soccer scarf.
NOVEMBER 2: Senior night will be on Friday, Nov. 2 at Baujan Field. Come celebrate the senior class in a 7 p.m. clash against UMass.
