The University of Dayton men's soccer team will open up Atlantic 10 play on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. on the road at Davidson College. The match will take place at  Alumni Soccer Stadium, the site of last year's Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Flyers go into the weekend with a 3-5-2 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 1.40 goals per game while holding opponents to 1.10 goals to opponents. Dayton has a 15.1 to 10.9 shot advantage, but has six fewer corner kicks overall. The Flyers have struggled on the road, still looking for their first away victory.

UD is led by freshman Thor Helgason, who has four goals and one assist, and sophomore Rok Taneski, who has one goal and four assists. Senior Alvaro Navarro has added two goals and three assists in nine games. Sophomore goalkeeper Federico Barrios has played every minute in goal with 39 saves and a 1.05 goals against average.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
DAVIDSON
Davidson heads into the Atlantic 10 portion of the schedule with a 5-2-1 record overall. The Wildcats have yet to lose at home going 4-0-1 at Alumni Stadium this season. Head coach Matt Spear is in his 17th season in charge of Davidson.

The Wildcats are scoring 1.75 goals each contest while giving up just 1.12 to opposing teams. Davidson is out-shooting opponents and has a corner kick advantage. The Wildcats have allowed just one assist this season through eight games.

Leading the way for Davidson is the tandem of Ned Morrissett and Coleman Richards, who have both scored three goals this campaign. Goalkeepers Sam Bissett and Sawyer Gaffney ahve split time between the posts, combining for 25 saves and nine goals allowed.

THE SERIES
Dayton and Davidson have played two times previously with both teams picking up a win. The last time the two teams met was in 2014 when the Flyers picked up a 2-0 win at home over the No. 19 Wildcats.

LAST OUTING
Dayton is coming off a tough 1-0 loss at West Virginia last Saturday, ending the non-conference slate. A goal with just 30 seconds to go handed the Flyers the loss.

Davidson battled ninth-ranked Virginia in a 2-1 defeat on the road. The Wildcats opened the scoring in the 70th minute, but the Cavaliers struck just seven minutes later and got the game winner with just one second to go in regulation.

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 482-410-86 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 312-130-51 in 24 seasons and a 124-81-39 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 retun home for its conference home opener when they host Saint Joseph's Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at Baujan Field.