DAYTON - The University of Dayton men's soccer team will remain on the road as it heads to Western Michigan Sunday, Sept. 17 for a 1 p.m. contest. The Flyers enter the weekend with a 2-3-2 record overall and looking for their first road win of the season.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Head coach Dennis Currier is in his 13th season at the helm of the Flyers, totaling 123 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 1.14 goals per game and holding opponents to 1.00 goals each contest. Dayton has nearly twice as many shots as opposing squads and has a corner kick advantage.

UD is led by freshman Thor Helgason, who has three goals in six starts, and sophomore Rok Taneski, who has a game-winning goal and two assists. Senior Alvaro Navarro has a team-high three assists in six games. Sophomore goalkeeper Federico Barrios has 30 saves and a 0.94 goals against average while starting all seven contests.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
WESTERN MICHIGAN
Western Michigan comes into the game as the No. 24 ranked team in the country after starting the season 6-0-1 with a four-game winning streak and a win over No. 15 Butler. the Broncos are lead by fifth-year head coach Chad Wiseman.

The Broncos ranked second in the nation in shots per game, shots on goal per game, total assists, and total points. They are also in the Top 10 in points per game, scoring offense, total goals, and win-lost-tied percentage. WMU averages 2.43 goals per game while holding opponents to just 0.86 goals.

WMU is led by senior Brandon Bye, who leads the country in shots per game (7.80) and shots on goal per game (4.40). He has six goals and four assists in six contests. Ben Thornton has chipped in two goals and three assists while Jay McIntosh leads the team with five assists.

THE SERIES
Dayton and Western MIchigan have played 12 times previously with the Flyers winning four, the Broncos winning five, and three draws. The last match-up came in 2016 with WMU coming out on top 2-0 in Dayton. Returning Bronco Brandon Bye scored the game-winner in that contest.

LAST OUTING
UD suffered its second straight 1-0 loss, this time coming on the road at Northern Kentucky Wednesday. The Flyers trailed from the 17th minute on despite out-shooting the Norse in the game.

Western Michigan defeated Oakland on Wednesday, 2-1 on the road. The Bronos had a pair of goals by Bye in the second half, including the game-winner in the 63rd minute to remain undefeated.

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.

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 481-409-86 and four NCAA Tournament appearances in its history. The Flyers are also 123-83-26 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 311-128-51 in 24 seasons and a 123-79-39 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.

ABUBAKAR IN THE PROS
Lalas Abubakar became the latest Flyer to join the professional ranks after being selected No. 5 overall in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew. The former A-10 Defender of the Year has had a strong debut season for the Crew and continues to develop in his rookie campaign. He recently scored his first professional goal against Orlando City and was named to the MLS Team of the Week.

UP NEXT
The Flyers will return home to host Oakland on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at Baujan Field.