DAYTON - The University of Dayton men's soccer team will host Massachusetts Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at Baujan Field. It will be Senior Night for the Flyers with a short ceremony taking place prior to the game.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Flyers enter the contest with a 7-6-2 record overall and a 4-1 Atlantic 10 mark. Dayton currently sits in a tie for second in the A-10 standings, trailing only UMass.

Head coach Dennis Currier is in his 13th season at the helm of the Flyers, totaling 128 victories, the most in UD history. He returns a veteran squad this year with seven seniors, two of the top three goal scorers, and both goalkeepers from last season.

The Flyers are averaging 1.93 goals per game and holding opponents to 1.13 each contest. Dayton ranks 12th in the nation in total goals (29), 10th in shots per game (16.00), and 18th in total points (81).

UD is led by senior Alvaro Navarro, who has 17 points from six goals and five assists. Freshman Thor Helgason has chipped in a team-high seven goals while fellow newcomer Jonas Fjeldberg has a team-high six assists. Sophomore Rok Taneski has contributed five goals and five assists as well. Senior goalkeeper Justin Saliba is coming off two consecutive starts and his first shutout of the season at Saint Louis Wednesday.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts sits atop the A-10 standings with a 4-0-1 record in league play and a 10-2-3 record overall. UMass has found most of its success at home, going 9-0-1 in Amherst, but is just 1-2-2 on the road. Head coach Fran O'Leary is in his third year at UMass.

The Minutemen also have 29 goals this season, tying the Flyers for 12th in the nation. They also lead the A-10 in total points with 83. As a team, UMass is averaging 1.93 goals per game and holding opposing teams to just 0.87 each contest. The Minutemen match their opponents in shots per game, but face a corner kick disadvantage.

UMass has a balanced attack with Davis Smith contributing seven goals and four assists while Alex Desantis has five goals and four assists and Jack Fulton has five goals with one assist. Goalkeeper Bardia Asefnia has a 0.83 GAA.

THE SERIES
Dayton and Massachusetts have played 21 times previously with the Flyers winning 11 times, Minutemen winning eight times, and two draws. In the last showdown in 2016, the game ended in a 0-0 draw in Amherst, Mass.

LAST OUTING
Dayton went on the road to Saint Louis Wednesday and picked up a crucial 4-0 win in A-10 play. The Flyers scored all four goals in the first half, including three goals in a 1:27 period. Navarro scored twice.

Massachusetts kept its unbeaten streak alive at nine straight with a 2-1 win at home against Rhode Island Wednesday. The Rams struck first, but the Minutemen countered with the tying goal in the 52nd minute and the game winner in the 95th minute.

HELGASON NAMED A-10 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
On Sept. 5, the Atlantic 10 Conference named Dayton freshman Thor Helgason the A-10 Rookie of the Week. The Icelandic native led the team to a 4-1 win over Western Illinois and led the team through the first two weeks in scoring in four starts.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Dayton was 5-2-1 at Baujan Field last season, including  2-1-1 in A-10 play. The 2017 Atlantic 10 Championships will be played at Baujan Field this season on Nov. 10-12 in the new format of the postseason. The A-10 Quarterfinals will be played on the campus sites of the Top Four seeded teams before the semifinals and finals will take place the following weekend in Dayton.

PRESEASON
The Flyers worked through a number of different lineups in the preseason, giving multiple newcomers opportunities for playing time. Dayton tied Bowling Green 1-1 in the first exhibition game with the goal coming from an own goal by a BGSU defender. The Flyers then went to Milwaukee and suffered a 5-3 loss to the Panthers. UD trailed 5-0 in the second half before a late surge saw three goals by the Flyers in 14 minutes. Freshmen Thor Helgason and Trey Marchino both scored and assisted in the contest while Taneski assisted one and senior Lance Gaspar assisted twice.

FLYER CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
The Flyers had three players named to the All-Tournament at the Dayton Flyer Classic on Sept. 10. Sophomore goalkeeper Federico Barrios, freshman Thor Helgason, and redshirt junior Nick Hagenkord all received All-Tournament team honors. Liberty won the team title.

SIX ON THE NIGHT
In the win at home against Oakland on Sept. 20, the Flyers scored a season-high six goals in a 6-2 victory. Dayton came out of the locker room at halftime tied 2-2, but scored four goals in the second half to power its way to victory.

The Flyers matched that total with six more goals in a 6-1 win over St. Bonaventure at home on Oct. 14. Fjeldberg had three assists in the game while Navarro had two goals.

DAYTON PICKED TO FINISH 4TH
The Atlantic 10 Conference released its preseason poll and tabbed the Flyers to finish fourth in the league this season. With 122 points, Dayton trailed preseason favorites Fordham (162), Saint Louis (153), and VCU (147). Despite being picked to finish ahead of the likes of Rhode Island, George Washington, and Duquesne, UD didn't have anyone named to the preseason All-Conference squad.

FLYER SUCCESS
The Dayton men's program has an overall record of 485-411-86 and four NCAA Tournament appearances in its history. The Flyers are also 126-84-26 in the Atlantic 10 Conference and have six conference titles between the regular season and league tournament.

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 student-athletes from Ghana, Iceland, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, Slovenia, England, Panama, and Colombia totaling 11 international players. This is coming off the 2016 season in which the Flyers had 10 international players.

FLYERS ADD NEW ASSISTANTS
Dayton men's soccer announced the hiring of Brendon Boucaud to the staff in June 2017 followed by the addition of Alex Ranalli in August 2017.

Boucaud joins the Flyers after a stint coaching at his alma mater, Central Methodist University in Missouri. While there, he helped CMU to a 25-10-3 record in two seasons, guiding the team to national rankings, All-American honors, and the best season in program history. Boucaud played at CMU collegiately before plaing professionally in Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, and the U.S.

Ranalli comes to Dayton from nearby Ohio State University, where he played from 2013-16 and coached in 2017. He received his NSCAA National Diploma after a successful career with the Buckeyes. As a player, he was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team three times and was a member of the 2015 Big Ten Championship team. Prior to OSU, Ranalli played one season at Akron where he was part of the 2012 MAC regular season and conference champions.

CURRIER'S IMPACT
The head coach of the Flyers has had success at every place he has coached. Dennis Currier is in his 12th year at Dayton and holds a career record of 316-131-51 in 24 seasons and a 128-82-39 record with the Flyers. His career winning percentage of .690 ranks eighth in the nation amongst active coaches, ahead of programs like Notre Dame, Louisville, UCLA, Xavier, and Virginia.

FLYERS EARN USC TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
The United Soccer Coaches Association released their team academic award winners and named both the men's and women's teams at the University of Dayton to the list. This marks the 12th consecutive season for the men.

UP NEXT
The Flyers will play their final road game of the season Saturday, Oct. 28 at Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Pa. Kick-off is at 7 p.m. ET.