DAYTON – The Dayton Flyers women's soccer team returns home to Baujan Field Thursday after opening the season with two road matches last week. A balanced offensive attack led the Flyers to two victories on the week,
a 2-0 victory over Akron and
a 5-0 triumph over Kent State. The Northern Kentucky Norse will make their first-ever regular season trip to Baujan Field for a 7 p.m. tilt Thursday night before the Flyers return to the road to face the Toledo Rockets Sunday afternoon at Paul Hotmer Field.
SCOUTING NORTHERN KENTUCKY
The Norse enter Thursday's match with a 1-1-0 overall record, following a split of their opening week games against Cincinnati (L, 1-2) and Eastern Kentucky (W, 2-1 OT). Sophomore forward Sofia Wilmes has paced the NKU offense in the first two matches, tallying nine shots and a goal in the team's two matches. Senior defender Chloe Mills scored the game-winning goal for the Norse on Sunday against Eastern Kentucky, leading the NKU defense for all 95 minutes of the match. Dayton transfer Mimi Stines has started each match for the Norse, mirroring her team's 1-1 record with four saves and three goals allowed.
SCOUTING TOLEDO
Toledo enters this week of play having tied their first two matches of the season, 0-0 against Purdue Fort Wayne, and 1-1 at Cincinnati. The Rockets have been out-shot in their first two matches by a 27-20 margin, but an above-average 55% of those 20 shots have been on-frame. Senior midfielder Ashton Cassel has the lone goal of the campaign for the Rockets, with all three of her shots being on goal thus far. Toledo will host the Horizon League's Detroit Mercy Titans on Thursday night before the Flyers come to town for a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.
DAYTON DOMINANCE
The Flyers started their second consecutive season with a 2-0 record last week, out-shooting their opponents 35-10 in two matches. After
Marlee Taylor's two late goals lifted the Flyers to a season-opening victory over Akron Aug. 26
th, Dayton would go on to dominate Sunday's match at Kent State 5-0. Freshman
Noel Blain netted her first collegiate goal Sunday after tallying her first point with an assist in Thursday's contest. The Flyers' defense is showing itself as a force to be reckoned with early in the season, not allowing a single shot attempt in the second half of either of their first two matches.
A pair of Flyer juniors were honored by the Atlantic 10 Conference on Monday afternoon, as
Marlee Taylor and
Mackenzie Lutz earned A-10 Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors respectively.
Marlee Taylor had a stellar week for the Flyers, scoring four goals in Dayton's two matches last week to secure the Offensive Player of the Week honors. Taylor led the Flyers to a victory Thursday, scoring Dayton's only two goals of the match in the 84th and 87th minute to seal a late 2-0 victory over Akron. She wasted no time getting back on the score sheet Sunday at Kent State, scoring just five minutes into the match, and again in the 20th minute to set the tone for a dominating 5-0 performance over the Golden Flashes.
Mackenzie Lutz took home the Defensive Player of the Week honor after two shut-out performances for the Dayton defense last week. The junior defender played 80 percent of the minutes in the team's two matches last week, helping the Flyers stifle any and all chances at their net. Lutz and the Flyers defense allowed only three shots on goal for the whole week, and didn't allow a single shot in the second half of either of their matches.
