DAYTON – The University of Dayton women's soccer team continues its trek to an Atlantic 10 Championship on Wednesday night as it hosts No. 6 seed Fordham at Baujan Field at 7 p.m.
 
ABOUT DAYTON
The Flyers (14-3-2; 10-0-0) had to come from behind to win its Atlantic 10 Championship opener, scoring a pair of second-half goals to top La Salle 3-1 at home. Laney Smith climbed back into the lead for points for UD, posting 17 thanks to six goals and five assists. Liv Grenda is just behind her with 16 points (6 goals, 4 assists) and Olivia Baca is also in double-digits at 10 (4 goals, 2 assists). Batoul Reda has 13 shutouts on the campaign.
 
SCOUTING FORDHAM
The Rams (10-6-3; 5-4-1) are coming off a thrilling penalty shootout upset victory over No. 3 seed Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinal. All six shooters converted in the shootout, with Julia Acosta making the eventual winner. Keeper Kyla King denied the Dukes' effort to seal the victory for Fordham. Liina Tervo leads the team with 10 goals and seven assists. King has nine wins in net with two shutouts.
 
SERIES STUFF
Dayton has a commanding lead in the all-time series with Fordham, 19-2-5, but the two have tied their previous two meetings. The Flyers and Rams locked at 2-2 last season and played to a scoreless draw in 2023. Last season, Laney Smith and Liv Grenda both tallied scores for UD.
 
FLYERS SHINE IN AWARD SEASON
• Dayton proved that team success leads to individual accolades, as four Flyers won yearly Atlantic 10 awards and nine student-athletes were named to the All-Atlantic 10 first or second teams.
• Sophomore Liv Grenda was named the A-10 Midfielder of the Year, senior Kyra Karfonta earned the Defensive Player of the Year nod, fellow senior Batoul Reda was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year, and head coach Eric Golz won Coach of the Year.
• All three award winners were also named All-Atlantic 10 first team honorees and were joined by sophomore forward Laney Smith, who earns the nod for the second straight season.
• UD also placed a program-record five student-athletes on second team, as senior forward Karli Ferguson, senior midfielder Molly Russell, senior defender Ella Raimondi, redshirt sophomore Lauren Fields and sophomore Bre Mendoza earned the nod.
• The freshman trio of Ky Hau-Golden, Emery Newlin and Caroline Schork were each named to the A-10 All-Rookie team.
• Rounding out the honors was the trio of Grenda, Raimondi and Reda being named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic team.
 
ATLANTIC 10 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
• Dayton's victory over George Mason at the end of October gave the Flyers their first Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship since the 2013 season.
• UD sealed the first perfect season since 2004 with a 2-0 road win at Rhode Island to finish the regular season.
• The win also secured the top seed for the Atlantic 10 Championship, giving Dayton homefield advantage throughout the tournament.
• The Flyers have won more A-10 Championships than any other program since joining the league in 1995, having 12 regular season titles and 10 conference tournament titles.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• La Salle got on the board first with a 15th minute penalty kick, but the Flyers kept the pressure high throughout the half.
• Sophomore Liv Grenda evened the score in the 36th minute when she rebounded her own header off a feed from Laney Smith that went off the post and beat the Explorer defender for the goal. It was the sixth goal of the season for Grenda.
• Redshirt sophomore Olivia Baca smashed a beautiful feed from Molly Russell past the keeper, and after initially being ruled offsides, VAR overturned the call and made it a 2-1 Flyer lead.
• The Flyers' final tally came from Smith, who fired a shot past the keeper after a perfect service from senior Karli Ferguson.
• Dayton dominated nearly every category on the evening, out-shooting the Explorers 22-5 and 9-2 on goal. The Flyers also held the edge in corners, 3-1.
 
FLYER FACTS:
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
• Sophomore Liv Grenda became the fifth Flyer to win the Atlantic 10's Midfielder of the Year award and is the first for the Flyers since UD Hall of Famer Nicole Waters earned the nod in 2015.
• Senior Kyra Karfonta became the ninth Defensive Player of the Year in program history, helping lead the Flyers to 13 shutouts while also contributing nine points (3 goals, 3 assists) on offense.
• Senior keeper Batoul Reda is the first Flyer to be named Goalkeeper of the Year, an award that came into existence in 2023. Reda has tied the single-season shutout record with 13 this season, and set the program record for career shutouts with 40.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKINGS
• Dayton has seen its name in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 for the last two weeks, coming in this week at No. 20.
• The Flyers were also receiving votes in this week's Coaches Poll, and are No. 27 in the most recent edition of RPI.
 
CLIMBING THE (STAT) RANKINGS
• Dayton's defense has been climbing the national rankings since conference play began. Not only do the Flyers rank No. 1 in goals against average in the conference, but they also rank seventh nationally.
• UD's shutout percentage is also among the country's elite, leading the A-10 and No. 4 in in Division I behind Tennessee.
• The Flyers' team save percentage of .867 ranks ninth-best in the NCAA.
 
SUPER SOPHOMORES
• The dynamic duo was back in action in the Flyers' Atlantic 10 quarterfinal match, as both Laney Smith and Liv Grenda found the back of the net for their sixth goals of the season.
• Grenda scored UD's first goal of the game on a rebound from her own shot and an assist from Smith, tying the score at 1-1.
• Smith's goal came on a pure strike in the second half and brought the Flyers to their final of 3-1.
• Smith is closing in on the numbers from her fantastic freshman campaign of nine goals and an assist for 19 points.
 
UP NEXT
• Should the Flyers emerge from Wednesday night's Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal victorious, they will host the A-10 Championship Final against the other semifinal winner.
• The championship match will be at 12 p.m.