Dayton starts season with new faces but same goals
The Dayton Flyers DAYTON — were on the brink of playing in the NCAA men’s soccer tournament last season. One goal might have been the difference for a team that finished 46th in the RPI.
“They took all the way up to 39,” coach Dennis Currier said. “If we get the result against Saint Louis in the A-10 tournament or against Kentucky if we get a win instead of a tie, we’re in the national tournament. There’s that hunger that exists when you fall just short.”
Dayton finished 10-2-5 overall last season and 3-2-3 in the A-10. It was picked to finish second in the preseason poll this season behind Saint Louis, which has won the regular-season champion and the conference tournament the last two years.
Dayton had entered the national rankings and was 9-0-4 last season when it suffered its first loss, 3-1 to Saint Louis at Baujan Field. The Billikens beat the Flyers again in the semifinals of the A-10 tournament, winning 3-1 on penalty kicks after the teams were tied 1-1 at the end of three overtimes.
The Flyers last won the A-10 regular-season championship in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which was played in the spring of 2021. They last won the A-10 tournament in 2015, which was also the last year they played in the NCAA tournament.
Dayton led the nation in shots per game (21.9) last season and ranked 13th in goals per game (2.3).
“We do play a different brand of soccer,” Currier said. “It’s a harder brand. We have more possession. We attack with numbers. A lot of coaches probably steer away from that because it can be high risk and high reward. But I think it’s a very attractive style. I think that’s why were getting attention from recruits. We also have the history of guys moving on to the pro ranks. That’s really helping us out in terms of our recruitment.”
The Flyers had two players drafted by Major League Soccer teams in the spring: Xavier Zengue, a first-round pick (27th overall) of the Columbus Crew; and Jaden Jones-Riley, a third-round pick of the Portland Timbers. In all
Dayton opens the 2023 season in Ohio State’s Wolstein Classic at 4 p.m. Thursday against University of California, Davis at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. It plays Cal State Northridge in the same event at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“This is always an exciting part of the season,” said Currier, who enters his 19th season with a record of 172113-52. “This is like the honeymoon stage. We’ve got through through preseason. This year we have quite a few new guys. We had a big senior class. A couple guys went on to the pros. It is the first time for a lot of the guys competing at the Division I level. But we love this tournament at Ohio State. We’ve been kicking it off every year at this tournament.”
Dayton played three preseason games, beating Bowling Green 2-1 and Chicago State 6-1 before tying Ohio State 3-3 on Saturday.
The Flyers lost their top scorer, Forster Ajago, who had seven goals, to the transfer portal. He’s now at Duke as a graduate student. The top returning scorer is Manny Day, of Grandview Heights. He’s a graduate student who scored six goals last season.
Two of Dayton’s returners made the A-10 preseason team: sophomore midfielder Basit Umar, of Ghana, who made the all-rookie team last season; and senior goalkeeper Dario Caetano, of Portugal, who was a newcomer last season as a junior and was named to the allrookie team.
Another key returner is sophomore midfielder Joseph Melto Quiah, of Liberia. He had two goals and five assists last season.
A newcomer to watch is freshman midfielder Miles Bonham, of Upper Arlington.
“He had a fantastic preseason,” Currier said. “He had the first goal against Ohio State. He’s showed a lot of progress in the three weeks he’s been here. He’s got great athleticism for someone who’s 6-4. We expect big things from him.”
Currier also mentioned four other newcomers who will contribute: freshman midfielder Braden Seel, of Glen Carbon, Ill.; junior defender Paul Yeboah, of Ghana, who played last season at Baker University in Kansas; sophomore Johannes Eftevaag, of Norway; and Hjalti Sigurdsson, a midfielder from Iceland who’s a grad student with two years of eligibility remaining.