• The University of Dayton women's soccer team (7-5-1 overall, 4-3-1 A-10) is the fourth and last seed in the 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship which begins Thursday on the campus of No. 1-seed Saint Louis at Hermann Stadium. The Flyers will take on the No. 20 Billikens (13-1-0 overall and 8-0-0 A-10) for the fourth time this season. The semifinal match will be Thursday, April 15 at 1 p.m. ET.
• In the other semifinal, No. 2 Massachusetts will face third-seeded Davidson Thursday at 5 p.m. ET.
• The winners of the two semifinals will advance to meet in the championship final, which will be played Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m. ET.
• All three of the matches are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+ with Dan Bettlach, Bill McDermott, and Nate Gatter on the call
• Live stats will be available. Fans can also follow Dayton women's soccer social media for updates: on Twitter: & Instagram:  @daytonwsoccer  

DAYTON'S A-10 BACKGROUND 
• Dayton has won the A-10 Tournament Championship more than any other team in the conference: 10 times (1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016). 
• UD has also won or shared 11 Atlantic 10 Regular Season titles (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013). The next closest is Massachusetts with five. 
• This will be Dayton's 24th consecutive season playing in the A-10 Championship, earning a berth every year the Flyers have been a member of the conference.

THE SERIES
• The Flyers lead the all-time series over Saint Louis, 10-8-3.
• Dayton is 3-4-1 all-time in road matches vs. Saint Louis.
• The Billikens have won the last six meetings, including three this season (3-2 in 2OT on March 18 at Baujan Field and most recently to close out the season 3-1 on April 8 and 2-1 on April 11 at Hermann Stadium. 

FLYER FACTS
• Dayton's only conference losses were to No. 20 Saint Louis this season.
• UD is averaging 1.77 goals per game in the 13 matches this season. 16 of the 23 goals have come from UD freshmen: Itala Gemelli leads Dayton and the A-10 with nine goals, including three game-winning goals, and including three goals vs. the Billikens. Madison Wilson has three goals. Diana Benigno has scored two goals, and Mia Perri and Elle Lovdal have each netted one goal. 
• Sophomore Jessica Sheldon leads the Flyers with five assists, and also has a goal. Fellow sophomores Marlee Taylor and Audrey Steiert each have three assists, and sophomores Laney Huber and Yaiza Navarro Leon and freshman Katie Houck each have two assists.
• Gemelli also leads Dayton in points (19), shots (37), and shots on goal (20).
• The four Flyers who have started every match this season are freshmen (Itala Gemelli and Katie Houck) and sophomores (Jessica Sheldon, and Audrey Steiert). Sophomores Yaiza Navarro Leon and Mackenzie Lutz have played in and started 12 matches.
• Sophomore defender Audrey Steiert leads all Flyers field players with 975 minutes.
• Sophomore Madelyn Dewey earned her first collegiate start vs. Louisville (March 6) and has started every match since. In the other four matches she came off the bench to start the second half. Dewey is 7-4-1 on the season with 42 saves. The Flyers have five shutouts. 
• Head coach Eric Golz is in his fourth season at the helm of the Flyers. He previously served as an assistant at UD in 2011.
• Dayton returns eight starters from a squad that went 7-9-3 overall and 5-3-2 in conference play in 2019. 

SCOUTING SAINT LOUIS
• Saint Louis is currently ranked No. 20 by the United Soccer Coaches and is on an eight-match winning streak, going undefeated in Atlantic 10 play.
• SLU's only loss this season is a 1-0 overtime setback to Oklahoma State, ranked No. 16 at the time (March 6). 
• Hannah Friedrich has 14 assists this season to lead the Billikens. She is also the A-10 and NCAA leader in assists. 
• Saint Louis averages 2.50 goals per game and 12 different Billikens have scored this season led by Emily Groark's and Hannah Larson's seven goals. Abbie Miller has six goals this season, including four against Dayton. 
• Emily Puricelli has 14 starts in goal with 47 saves, a .55 GAA, and six shutouts. 

A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
• A four-team 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Championship will be played on the campus of the highest seed, April 15-17, with the winner advancing to the NCAA tournament.
• The Atlantic 10 has divided the 14 teams that participate in women's soccer into three geographical pods.
• The top team from each pod, and the next best team (regardless of pod) will play in the four-team Championship.

ALL HAIL ITALA
• Freshman forward Itala Gemelli leads the Flyers and Atlantic 10 in goals scored with 9. She's also scored three game-winning goals. Her nine goals this season are third best in the NCAA for freshmen.
•  Gemelli was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on Feb. 22. Gemelli scored her first collegiate goal, a game-winner in the 86th minute against Northern Kentucky in a come-from-behind 2-1 victory for UD. The rookie from Rochester, Mich., also scored the Flyers' lone goal in a 4-1 loss to undefeated Butler.
•  She also won the award for matches played March 15-21 when she scored three goals on the week. She scored both goals in Dayton's 3-2 double overtime loss to No. 22 Saint Louis, including the first goal just 57 seconds into the match, a rocket to the upper, far post 90. She also scored the equalizer in the 69th minute to send the match into OT. Gemelli scored the game-winning goal in UD's 3-0 shutout road win over St. Bonaventure.

KUDOS FOR CAMARCO 
Senior Kara Camarco scored the game-winning goal in UD's 1-0 victory over Marshall on Feb. 28. She also scored the game-winning goal in Dayton's 5-1 win over St. Bonaventure (April 1). She's played in 12 matches and started 10. Camarco had an assist in UD's 3-2 loss to Saint Louis. 

TAYLOR'S TIME
Sophomore Marlee Taylor scored her first collegiate goal in 3-0 win over St. Bonaventure (March 21). She had a goal and two assists in UD's 5-1 victory over SBU on April 1.

HOW ABOUT HOUCK?!
• Freshman Katie Houck, from Smithton, Ill. - which is located 30 minutes southeast of St. Louis - has started every match at defender for the Flyers. She's played 966 minutes and has two assists, both coming against Saint Louis (April 8 and April 11).

FLYERS SWEEP BONNIES 
• Dayton swept the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, closing out the three-game series with a 2-0 win on Easter Sunday at Baujan Field. UD also had a 5-1 win vs. SBU on April 1 and a 3-0 road win on March 21.  

A-10 OPENING DRAW VS. DUKES
• The Flyers opened the A-10 campaign with a double overtime 1-1 draw at Duquesne. Freshman Madison Wilson scored in the match for Dayton. 
• Prior to the 1-1 double overtime tie at Duquesne Sunday, March 14, Dayton's last A-10 regular season match was Oct. 27, 2019, a 3-2 loss at La Salle.  When the Flyers took on the Dukes it marked 504 days since UD's last conference match. 
• In the second meeting, Dayton posted a 2-0 shutout with goals from Itala Gemelli and Diana Benigno and both assists coming from Yaiza Navarro Leon.

PK THE DIFFERENCE VS. CARDS
• Dayton closed out non-conference play with a 1-0 loss to Louisville via a PK, on March 6 at Baujan Field, finishing with a 3-2-0 record going into league play.

2-0-0 TO START
•  Dayton opened up this unorthodox spring campaign with a 2-0 win over Bellarmine at CJ's Roger Glass Stadium on Feb. 6. Freshmen Madison Wilson and Diana Benigno scored.
•  The Flyers followed that win a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Northern Kentucky at indoor facility Wall2Wall in Mason, Ohio. Freshmen Mia Perri and Itala Gemelli scored.

FLYERS PICKED 4TH IN A-10 POLL
• The Dayton women's soccer team was selected  to finish fourth in the 2020-21 Atlantic 10 standings in a vote by the league's 14 head coaches. The Flyers were 5-3-2 in the conference in 2019 and finished fifth in the league.

OHIO CONNECTIONS
•  11 Flyers on the women's soccer team are from Ohio.
•  There are five from the Cincinnati area, including two from Fairfield: junior Lexy Kidd, and sophomore Alexis Goins. The other Cincinnati-area products include: senior Olivia Brown, sophomore Laney Huber and freshman Elle Lovdal. 
•  There are three from the Columbus, Ohio area: junior Gillian Losey, Tennessee transfer Alicia Donley (won't be playing this spring due to NCAA rules in which she competed already this season for the Vols in the fall), freshman Natale Hegg.
•  Freshman Diana Benigno is from Beavercreek, Ohio.
•  Sophomore Mackenzie Lutz is from Sylvania, Ohio and fellow sophomore Jessica Sheldon is from Medina, Ohio.

MICHIGAN MIGRATION
•  The next highest geographical location for the Flyers is four from Michigan:
- sophomore Marlee Taylor -Plymouth
- sophomore Audrey Steiert - Linden
- freshman Gabby Tremonti - Royal Oak
- freshman Itala Gemelli - Rochester

INTERNATIONAL FLYERS
• The Flyers have four international student-athletes on the women's soccer team:
- sophomore Yaiza Navarro Leon and freshman Adriana Alonso-Gomez from Spain
- freshman Madison Wilson from London, Ontario, Canada
- freshman Liana Yara from England

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN 
• Dayton's freshmen have a history of making an impact. 
• This season, 16 of the 23 goals have come from UD freshmen: Itala Gemelli leads Dayton and the A-10 with nine goals, including three game-winning goals. Madison Wilson has three goals. Diana Benigno has scored two goals, and Mia Perri and Elle Lovdal have each netted one goal. 
• UD's top scorers from 2019 were A-10 All-Rookie selections: Alexis Goins (7 goals, 3 assists) and Laney Huber (4 goals, 4 assists), with Goins also earning first-team honors. Nine different Flyers scored last season and five were freshmen.