DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton men's soccer team will open the Atlantic 10 slate this weekend at Massachusetts. The Flyers and Minutemen meet at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rudd Field.
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton enters conference play with a 3-5-1 record overall and a 1-3-1 record on the road. The Flyers have wins over Saint Francis, Belmont, and Liberty. Head coach
Dennis Currier is in his 12th year at the helm of the Flyers.
The Flyers are averaging 0.89 goals per game and allowing 1.44 goals each game to opponents. UD is still out-shooting opposing squads 13.8 to 11.3. The Flyers have a corner kick advantage as well, but are shooting a .065 percentage.
UD is led by freshman
Rok Taneski, who has three goals and three assists for nine point. Junior
Nick Hagenkord has chipped in two goals while freshman
David Lianes has added two assists. Freshman goalkeeper
Federico Barrios has made two consecutive starts and coming off his first career shutout.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
MASSACHUSETTS
UMass is also opening the A-10 season on Saturday by hosting the Flyers. The Minutemen are 2-6-1 overall and 1-2-1 at home. UMass has wins over Brown and Hartford, both coming in the last three contests.
As a team, the Minutemen are scoring 1.22 goals each game and giving up 2.11 to opposing squads. UMass is being out-shot 17.1 to 8.9 per game, but is shooting at a higher percentage. Head coach Fran O'Leary is in his second season at UMass.
Leading the way for the Minutemen is junior Alex DeSantis with two goals and four assists in nine games. Senior Ty Goncalves has two goals while junior Henry Steinkamp has a goal and two assists.
THE SERIES
Dayton and UMass have faced each other 20 times previously with UD taking 11 of those meetings. The last time the two teams met was on Oct. 24, 2015 in Dayton when the Flyers picked up a 4-1 win over the Minutemen. Goalkeeper Jorge Becerra has 45 saves and a 2.04 goals against average.
LAST OUTING
Dayton is coming off a big 1-0 win on the road at Liberty on Tuesday. Taneski scored the decisive goal for the Flyers in the 55th minute. Barrios recorded his first career shutout.
UMass is coming off a 3-2 win over Hartford last Saturday on the road. The Minutemen trailed initially before two second half goals sent the game to overtime. Ty Goncalves scored the game-winning goal in the 97th minute, clinching UMass' second victory of the season.
AMONGST THE BEST
UD ranks first in the Atlantic 10 in shots per game. Individually, Taneski leads the league in game-winning goals, shots per game, shots on goal per game, and total points.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will return home to continue A-10 play with Fordham on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.
