DAYTON - The University of Dayton men's soccer team will play its final road contest of the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. against Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Pa.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
The Flyers enter the contest with a 7-7-2 record overall and a 4-2 mark in Atlantic 10 play. Dayton currently sits in fifth place in the A-10 with 10 points. The top four teams host the opening quarterfinal games of the A-10 Tournament.

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 1.94 goals per game while holding opponents to 1.25 each contest. Dayton ranks eighth in the nation and leads the A-10 in shots per game with 15.94 each contest.  The Flyers are also 14th in the country in scoring with 31 goals.

UD is led by reigning A-10 Offensive Player of the Week Rok Taneski, who has seven goals and five assists this season. Senior Alvaro Navarro has contributed six goals and five assists while sophomore Thor Helgason has seven goals as well. Senior goalkeeper Justin Saliba has started the last three games with 12 saves and a 2-1 record.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
DUQUESNE
Duquesne is looking for its first win on the road this season, going 0-7-1 away from home in 2017. The Dukes are 3-11-1 overall and sit second from the bottom in the A-10 standings. Head coach and former Dayton assistant coach Chase Brooks is in his fifth year at Duquesne.

The Dukes are scoring just 0.50 goals each game while allowing 2.33 to opposing teams. Duquesne has been out-shot so far this season, but does have a corner kick advantage.

Leading the way for the Dukes is Zach Hall, Jallah Acqui, and Jason Twum, who all have three goals this season. Five Dukes have at least two assists this season as well. Robbie McKelvey has 13 games in goal with a 1.56 goals against average.

THE SERIES
Dayton and Duquesne have played 19 times previously with the Flyers winning 11 times, the Dukes seven times, and one draw. In the last meeting in 2016, UD and Duquesne drew 1-1 in Dayton.

LAST OUTING
Dayton suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Massachusetts at home last Saturday, spoiling Senior Night for the Flyers. A late red card and penalty gave the Minutemen the road victory.

Duquesne lost its last outing at George Washington Saturday, 1-0. The decisive goal came in the 54th minute by GW.

TANESKI NAMED A-10 OFFENSIVE POW
Sophomore Rok Taneski was named A-10 Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 23 after totaling three goals and an assist in Dayton's two games the week prior. Up to that point, he ranked second in the A-10 in points, third in goals, and fifth in assists.

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 485-412-86 and four NCAA Tournament appearances in its history. The Flyers are also 126-85-26 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 316-132-51 in 24 seasons and a 128-83-39 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 game of the regular season at home Wednesday at Baujan Field against George Mason at 7 p.m.