DAYTON - The University of Dayton women's soccer team will play host to VCU Sunday afternoon at the Flyers' on-campus home pitch Baujan Field. Kickoff between the Flyers and Rams is scheduled for 1 p.m. and admission is free.
Sunday is the Flyers'
Breast Cancer Awareness Game and the first 50 fans will receive a free long-sleeve shirt.
ABOUT DAYTON
Dayton (12-3, 6-1 A-10) heads into Sunday's match enjoying a six-game winning streak and in sole possession of first place in Atlantic 10 standings, one point ahead of Saint Louis. Senior
Noel Blain leads the Flyers' offense with nine goals (2nd A-10, 27th NCAA), one of 12 players to have scored a goal this season, and 23 points (3rd A-10, 24th NCAA) while graduate student
Diana Benigno has handed out a team-best six assists (3rd A-10). Junior
Batoul Reda has worked all 1,350 minutes this season between the posts for Dayton with seven shutout wins and 41 saves.
SCOUTING VCU
VCU (3-7-4, 2-1-4 A-10) has gone 1-1 in its last two matches, including a 2-1 win over Duquesne at home on Thursday, after a four-consecutive ties. The Rams' Kanna Matsuhisa leads the team with six goals (9th A-10) while six different players have notched one assist on the season. In goal for VCU, Allison Karpovich has seen action in all 14 games this season, putting in 1,182:49 minutes of work with 55 saves (8th A-10).
SERIES STUFF
VCU Leads, 6-3-4
Dayton's 1-0 win over VCU in Richmond last season snapped the Flyers' four-match losing streak to the Rams. The last time UD defeated VCU at home was a 3-0 victory in an A-10 Tournament semifinal matchup in Dayton on Nov. 7, 2014.
LAST TIME OUT
Dayton extended its winning streak to five with a 3-2 win at Massachusetts on Sunday. Freshman
Laney Smith scored two goals, including the game-winner, on her way to her first career multi-goal performance for the Flyers. As a team, Dayton out-shot Massachusetts by a margin of 13-5 as nine different Flyers fired off a shot, led by junior
Kyra Karfonta with three.
FLYER FACTS
•
Eric Golz is in his eighth season as head coach of the Flyers in 2024. His record at Dayton is 83-48-16 (.619) and his career win-loss mark sits at 103-64-21 (.604) over a total of 10 seasons. Golz has tallied the program's second-most wins, behind Mike Tucker who had 313 wins over 22 seasons (1995-2016) at Dayton.
• Freshman
Laney Smith earned the team's third weekly award of the season Oct. 14 after being named A-10 Rookie of the Week. She turned in her first career game-winner and first career multi-goal match in Dayton's 3-2 win over Massachusetts.
• Senior
Noel Blain claimed her first Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 23 as she recorded her second hat trick of the season, scoring three goals and adding one assist in Dayton's 4-0 win over visiting Richmond.
• Freshman
Liv Grenda claimed the Atlantic 10's first Rookie of the Week honor on Aug. 19 after scoring her first collegiate goal in Dayton's 2-1 win at Loyola Maryland on opening day.
• Dayton has won the Atlantic 10 Regular Season title 11 times (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013). The Flyers have captured the A-10 Championship title 10 times (1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016). Over 28 appearances in the A-10 Tournament, UD has tallied a 34-11-5 record in the conference postseason championship.
• The Flyers finished the 2023 season with a 13-2-5 overall record and a 7-0-3 conference mark, finishing in third place in regular-season play.
• Top returners:
Diana Benigno (Gr., MF),
Noel Blain (Sr., F),
Kyra Karfonta (Jr., D),
Ella Raimondi (Jr., D/MF),
Batoul Reda (Jr., GK).
UP NEXT
In its final regular-season road test of the 2024 season, Dayton will be in the Big Apple Thursday to take on Fordham. The Flyers and Rams will square off Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. at Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx.
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