Oct. 29, 2004

The University of Dayton men's soccer team moved closer to securing an Atlantic 10 Championship berth with a 4-1 win over Fordham at Baujan Field Friday. Chris Rolfe scored twice for the Flyers and Damion Blackburn netted his first career goal.

The Flyers now sit in second place at 6-3-0 in the Atlantic 10 (9-6-1 overall) and can wrap up an spot in the conference tournament with either a win, or a loss by either La Salle or George Washington.

Starting keeper Matt Troop (Peachtree City, GA) booted a long punt that Omar Jarun (Peachtree City, GA) played forward to Rolfe (Kettering, OH). The senior forward beat Fordham keeper Stephen Faber for to the lower right side for a 1-0 lead. The goal, in the games' 31st minute, came just seconds after UD had a goal disallowed after the linesman ruled the Flyers were offside.

Six minutes later, Rolfe played a corner kick to the top of the elbow for Tye Stebbins (Zionsville, IN) and the senior midfielder lobbed it into the box where Nate Darr (Centerville, OH) headed it home for a 2-0 lead and his fifth goal of the year.

The Flyers took a 2-0 lead into the break as Fordham swapped goalkeepers for the second half. Faber made four saves before giving way to Justin Burse.

In the 51st minute, Jarun ripped a shot off the crossbar and Rolfe was right there for the rebound and buried it for his fourth of the year.

Fordham answered in the 53rd minute as Shawn Moamen came in, beat a defender on the right side and slipped the ball past Troop to the near post.

Junior Damion Blackburn (Beavercreek, OH) capped the scoring with his first career goal in the 75th minute as he came down the left flank, cut in toward the net and beat Burse from 10 yards away.

Dayton never settled back to try and milk the clock and protect their lead, out-shooting Fordham 15-7 for the match. The Flyers exacted revenge on the Rams, having seen their NCAA at large chances dashed in the Bronx last year as the Rams upset UD 1-0. Dayton was the highest-rated team left out of the 2003 NCAA Tourney.

The Flyers did remove Troop with 12:49 remaining, as Troop had been nursing an injury that made him a game-time decision for coach Dave Schureck. Nick Tarkany (Miamisburg, OH) made one save in the remainder of the match. Red-shirt freshman Mike Huff (Tulsa, OK) also entered at the same time, making his Flyer debut. Blackburn, Scott Allen (Cincinnati, OH), Ian Mulligan (St. Louis, MO), Tyler Imbrogno (Dayton, OH) and Nick Sulich (Columbus, OH) also saw minutes in the second half.

Rolfe's five-point night gives him 16 points in just 10 games this season. In his last 37 games played, he's recorded 61 points.

Rolfe, Stebbins, Sulich and fellow senior Steve Ladislaw (Philadelphia, PA) will be honored prior to Sunday's match at home against La Salle in Senior Day activities. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.