DAYTON - The University of Dayton men's soccer team will head back out on the road to West Virginia for a 7 p.m. contest against the Mountaineers on Saturday, Sept. 23 at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The Flyers enter the weekend with a 3-4-2 record overall.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Head coach Dennis Currier is in his 13th season at the helm of the Flyers, totaling 124 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 1.56 goals per game and holding opponents to 1.11 each contest. Dayton is out-shooting opposing teams 15.7 to 11.1, but has a 50-45 corner kick disadvantage.

UD is led by freshman Thor Helgason, who has a team-high four goals and one assist, and senior Alvaro Navarro, who has two goals and three assists. Sophomore Rok Taneski leads the team in assists with four.  Sophomore goalkeeper Fedrico Barrios has played every minute between the posts with a 1.06 GAA and 39 saves.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia returns home from a three-game road stretch to host the Flyers with a 5-1-2 record on the season. The Mountaineers have performed better on the road with a 4-1 mark while going 1-0-2 at home. Head coach Marlon LeBlanc is in his 12th season in charge of WVU.

The Mountaineers are scoring 1.75 goals per game and has a strong defense, allowing just .75 goals to opponents. WVU benefits from a higher shots on goal percentage and shot percentage.

Leading the way for the Mountaineers are Albert Andrews-Llop and Jad Arslan, who both have four goals on the season. Jorge Quintanilla is the main distributor with four assists to go with one goal. Stephen Banick has the most starts at eight as goalkeeper with a 0.71 goals against average and 22 saves.

THE SERIES
Dayton and West Virginia are meeting for the first time in regular season history, having previously met in exhibitions and spring games.

LAST OUTING
Dayton picked up its biggest win of the season with a 6-2 victory over Oakland Wednesday at Baujan field. The Flyers scored four goals in the second half to power its way to the highest scoring victory since 2015.

West Virginia went on the road to American and left with a 3-0 shutout win, its second straight victory. The Mountaineers had goals from Tom Shepherd, Albert Andres-Llop, and Lucca Barbaris in the game.

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.

WHAT A 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.

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 482-409-86 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.

UP NEXT
The Flyers will open up Atlantic 10 play on Sept. 30 at Davidson. Kick-off is at 6 p.m. ET.