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DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton men's soccer team will open the 2015 regular season this weekend at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott JMU Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va. The Flyers start off the weekend on Friday at 5 p.m. in a neutral site contest against Radford. Dayton then takes on host James Madison on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Dayton enters the season after a pair of exhibition games against West Virginia and Butler. The Flyers and Mountaineers tied in the first preseason game at Baujan, 2-2. Senior Maik Schoonderwoerd opened up the scoring in the 25th minute before junior Tommy Harr doubled Dayton's lead with a goal in the 58th minute. Junior James Haupt, senior Michael Frasca, and senior Kissima Bojang recorded assists in the contest.

In the second and final game of the preseason, the Flyers showcased their offensive power with five goals. Schoonderwoerd and Dayton newcomer Carlos Sending both had a pair of goals while Harr contributed the other score, his second of the preseason. The Flyers had five goals on eight shots  on target in the match against the Bulldogs.

THE SERIES
The Flyers have never faced either Radford or James Madison in the history of the program, adding two new opponents to the list.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
RADFORD
The Highlanders enter the regular season after a successful trio of games in the preseason. Radford tied No. 2 ranked Virginia 1-1 in the opener before picking up wins over Charleston (1-0) and Roanoke (7-0). After going 12-5-3 last season, Radford finished 46th in the RPI rankings and had an 8-1-0 conference record in the Big South.

Sophomore Kieran Roberts is the top returning scorer with five goals and three assists last season, including three game-winning goals. Radford rotated goalkeepers in the preseason as well with Nicolas Mertzokat, Koby Johnson, and Cory Thompson all seeing time bewteen the posts. Similar to Dayton, the Highlanders have quite an international squad with 14 players hailing from overseas.

JAMES MADISON
The Dukes are coming off a season in which they qualified for the NCAA Tournament where they suffered a first round defeat to North Carolina (L, 6-0). They finished 2014 ranked No. 69 in the RPI after going 10-8-4 during the season, including a 3-3-2 conference record in the CAA. James Madison will meet Iona Friday before facing the Flyers on Sunday.

Head Coach Tom Foley has a relatively young squad with 10 newcomers on the roster. Junior Connor Coward is the top returning scorer with five goals last season to go with his four assists, which led the team. Sophomore Joe Vyner chipped in three goals as well. The Dukes also have a large international contingency with 11 players from abroad.

LAST OUTING
Dayton defeated Butler in the preseason finale 5-4. Despite giving up four goals and being out-shot in the contest 19-15, the Flyers had eight shots on target and held on for their first win of the fall campaign.

Radford exploded for seven goals in the shutout victory over Roanoke College last Sunday. Fraser Colmer and Jakob Strandsater both had a pair of goals each while Sivert Daehlie, Taylor Martin, and Michael Walsh each had one goal.

James Madison last played Atlantic 10 member George Washington on Sunday, but no result was posted. Previously, the Dukes also faced Virginia Tech in a preseason friendly as well.

PRESEASON
The Flyers totaled seven goals in the two contests against West Virginia and Butler, after scoring 30 all of last season. Dayton's leading scorer in the preseason was Schoonderwoerd, who scored three times, while Sendin and Harr added two apiece. That spreads the Flyers' scoring out across all three areas of the pitch, forwards, midfielders, and defenders.

FLYER SUCCESS
The Dayton men's program has an overall record of 458-392-76 and three NCAA tournament appearances in its history. The Flyers are also 115-79-22 in the Atlantic 10 Conference and have six conference titles between the regular season and league tournament.

DAYTON PICKED 6TH IN A-10
The Atlantic 10 Conference released its preseason poll and tabbed the Flyers to finish sixth in the league. Dayton finished last season as the No. 6 seed in the A-10 Tournament and was picked to repeat that feat this year. Saint Louis was chosen as the favorite going into 2015, followed by reigning conference champion Rhode Island, George Mason, and VCU. Davidson was picked to finish just ahead of Dayton.

A-10 PRESEASON HONORS
Four flyers were recognized by the A-10 as well in the preseason release. Senior Amass Amankona, junior James Haupt, and junior Lalas Abubakar were all named to the First Team All-Conference Preseason squad while freshman Kennedy Nwabia was named to the All-Rookie Team.

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
The Dayton program has been known to recruit well outside of the U.S. and this year's team is no different. The Flyers have three student-athletes from Ghana, one from Costa Rica, one from Denmark, one from Spain, one from Nigeria, one from Gambia, and one from the Netherlands, totaling nine international players. This is coming off the 2014 and 2013 seasons in which the Flyers had nine and 11 international players respectively.

FLYERS ADD NEW ASSISTANT
Dayton men's soccer announced the hiring of Michael Tanke as the new assistant coach earlier in the year. He comes to the Flyers after spending two years as the graduate assistant at Castleton State College in Vermont. Prior to that, Tanke had experience within the A-10 after playing at Rhode Island. "Michael brings a good balance to our staff and we are excited to have him join us," said Head Coach Dennis Currier. "He has strong coaching potential with a very energetic approach to the game.

CURRIER'S IMPACT
The head coach of the Flyers has had success at every place he has coached. Dennis Currier is in his 11th year at Dayton and holds a career record of 288-111-41 in 22 seasons and a 100-62-29 record with the Flyers. His career winning percentage of .701 ranks fifth in the nation amongst active coaches, ahead of programs like Maryland, Stanford, UCLA, and Virginia.

UP NEXT
The Flyers will play their home opener on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. when they host Cleveland State.