At this time last year the talk was all about the Dayton Flyers riding a veteran, talented group of seniors to an eighth consecutive A10 regular season title and another berth in the NCAA tournament. To start the season, things fell right into place. After a loss on the road to #11 West Virginia in the season opener, Dayton rebounded with three victories following by a pair of ties to soccer linchpins William & Mary and Virginia. Another victory over Wright State put the Flyers at a respectable 4-1-2. Then things mysteriously unraveled.

Butler shutout Dayton 1-0, St. Joseph’s did likewise a week later, and three more times throughout the remainder of the season Dayton failed to score. Just 29 goals in 20 games from the Flyer offense proved to be the ultimate reason for missing out on conference hardware and a postseason berth. All of this was despite fielding A10 Offensive Player of the Year Reba Sedlacek. For such a senior-laden team with prior experience at getting the job done, walking off Baujan Field as 1-0 losers against St. Louis in the A10 tournament semifinals didn’t make things easier. Even more frustrating, UD’s defense yielded a goals-against-average of just 0.87 in 2005. Little more could have been done to give the struggling offense an honest chance.

Much of that bad karma seems to be in the rear view mirror as the 2006 season quickly approaches. Sometimes turning the page is the best medicine and after a pair of excellent preseason dress rehearsals, indications are the Flyers may be back. Dayton is young – just one senior on the roster – but the youthful makeup could end up being the team’s best asset. Their fearlessness seems to be carrying over to the veterans. What this team might lack in experience, they should make up for in effort and commitment.

Starting from the back, junior Niki Reed is the logical choice to start at goalkeeper throughout the year. Reed played nearly all of the minutes in 2005 and is technically sound. She also has a big foot on clearances, goal kicks, and punts to start the Flyer attack. She’ll be challenged by heralded freshman Tasha Dittamore, joining the list of past goalkeepers Stephanie Weisenfeld, Sarah West, and Stacy Deluca from the state of Illinois. Sophomore Stacy Chew from nearby Mason is the third goalkeeper on the roster.

The Flyer back line needs to be tweaked a bit but expect sophomore gazelle Amanda Gallow to hold down one of the outside positions. She may also find time at striker to pick on opposing defenders who can’t keep up with her footspeed. On the other side, junior Courtney Sirmans has the size and leg strength to take care of things. While she lacks Gallow’s speed, she stands 6-1 and does well at winning high balls or sending long clearances well into the other half of the field. Sirmans struggled with foot injuries last year that made playing painful and difficult. Freshman Eileen Hughes, a 5-8 product from St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati, has shown promise thus far as an outside defender and could see minutes if Sirmans spends some time in the offense as a target forward.

In the central defense, the surest thing is sophomore Stephanie Wurth. The All-Rookie selection a year ago has great instincts and intangibles that don’t show up in the boxscore. She’s among the team best at picking off the passing lanes. While not especially fast up and down, she’s quick in traffic and deserving of her preseason All-Conference honors. Alongside Wurth or perhaps in front of her as a defensive midfielder, sophomore Annette Bonasso has the tools to be an All-League caliber player before she’s done. In some respects, her game resembles a little Erin Showalter and a little Tesia Kozlowski. If UD has a utility player, it may be her.

One player forced to look from the sidelines this year is Canadian star Lauren Maybury, a potential starter in the back line who ran into NCAA clearinghouse issues and must sit out the season.

The midfield is largely up for grabs, but junior Kristen Persichini has experience on her side. She’s been a starter for much of her first two seasons and brings good size to the middle third of the field. The former HS All-American needs to take on defenders more often and dig out loose balls to start the attack. April Carbajal, another prep All-American, returns for her redshirt sophomore season with a lot going for her. There are moments of brilliance out of Carbajal’s footwork, but fans want to see some of that flash every time out. With the departure of footwork trickster Katie Lowstuter, someone must fill that void in the midfield and Carbajal is our primary choice.

Midfielder Anne Mariscalco has starter potential and has come a long way since last season. The sophomore from Centerville made things happen in both exhibitions and brings more of that toughness the Flyers lacked in matches last year. Pencil her in as a player to watch.

The remainder of the midfield could end up a work in progress as other players separate from the pack. Of the returnees, second-year player Kim Sacher is most comfortable on the outside and will run at defenders. Jaime Monahan, the lone senior, stands a fair chance on the outside as well — perhaps opposite Sacher. Junior Natalia Walters and redshirt sophomore Alli Foust should also be in the mix. Walters brings more pace while Foust enjoys knocking everybody around. Sophomore Corey Shubitowski did not play a lot of minutes last year but will look to contribute more often in 2006. The same can be said for fellow classmate Rachael Kohntopp, a well-regarded player who came into the program from Toledo St. Ursula.

Rounding out the midfield options are a cast of freshmen ready to make their mark on the Flyer program. Currently separating from the pack is 5-2 fireplug Colleen Gibson, a hard worker from Moreno Valley, CA, who likes to bang bodies and has clever footwork to go along with it. She reads the game well and knows what to do when she has the ball.

Lauren MacCormick, a product of McNick HS in Cincinnati, has a chance to find playing time. Cara Cornacchia, the other Canadian, brings a ton of top experience but only if her knee injury heals well enough to salvage the season. Otherwise look for her to redshirt. Also recovering is talented Lakota East prospect Emily Miller. She’s still a few weeks away from taking part in activities at full throttle, but if the rumors of her talents are true, the wait may be well worth it.

In order to establish some credible scoring forwards, chances are Head Coach Mike Tucker will throw everyone else up top and determine what sticks. Right now, freshmen Mandi Back and Caitlin Proffitt look like the leading contenders. Back is a former HS All-American with the speed, quickness, and hunger to score that UD has not had recently. She will run at defenders and force them into mistakes. Proffitt is more subtle but makes the most of her touches. She can also make defenders miss while carrying possession forward with pace. Proffitt registered a hat trick against Northwestern. Either one has a legitimate chance to lead the team in scoring. They are both still young however and senior-laden defenses against the top teams will prove a difficult challenge. It’s a lot to ask of freshmen to carry the scoring burden, but this team may have few alternatives. Newcomer Lindsey Miller from Prairie Village, KS, had her moments in the two exhibition matches and could end up surprising fans as she earns more playing time.

Junior Jen Leslie seemingly finds a way to make something happen. Although not as technically gifted as others, Leslie has scored or assisted on some of UD’s most important goals over the last two seasons. Dara Elk and Gretchen Giner, two more juniors, have excellent pace but are still looking to prove themselves as reliable scorers.

Dayton has a challenging schedule ahead of them and it starts early on. After opening the season at Toledo, the Flyers head to the friendly surf of Malibu, CA, to take on talented Pepperdine and San Diego. Michigan and Illinois State open up the home schedule while Top-25 programs Washington and California loom at a weekend tournament at Ohio State. Great Lakes region opponent Oakland rounds out the non-conference schedule. Michigan State, a home game, was dropped because the Spartans had a scheduling conflict.

The good news is UD hosts St. Louis during the A10 season. The Billikens are the likely favorite going into the conference schedule and a victory in the head-to-head matchup would be big. On the other hand, A10 tournament contenders UMass, Richmond, and Charlotte are on the road. Just seven home games dot the schedule and that could be a major factor in how this team performs.

Despite a senior class consisting of just one player, a somewhat unbalanced schedule, no proven scorers, and a host of unproven newcomers, we like Dayton’s chances. Turning the page from a year ago was as important a step as any. From what fans have seen thus far, that’s already been accomplished. The fresh faces have energized the program with a hunger to win and win convincingly. Those good vibrations seem to be filtering up to the veterans as well. While this team may not be any more talented than last year’s, it’s already looking like the miles per gallon are going to take a giant leap forward. One potential trouble spot may be defensively where team speed is not quite as good as years past. In fact, UD could use a little more speed and quickness at all parts of the field. Against BCS schools, everyone on the field can run like a greyhound.

Soccer is a subtle sport mangled in the fine details, but effort and physicality and heart are never too camouflaged to point out. The wins and losses will come and go, but the effort and drive will be constants all year – we’re quite certain of it. With more diversified scoring punch up top and a dose of dynamic newcomers to reinvigorate the veterans, Dayton takes a major step forward this year, even if the best to come might be a year away. The Flyers were too predictable last year but that’s not going to happen this time around.

Our prediction: 13-6, 2nd place A10, A10 tournament runner-up.