Nov. 3, 2005

DAYTON - An automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be on the line this weekend as the University of Dayton plays host to the 2005 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship at Baujan Field. Quarterfinal play begins Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. with third-seeded Charlotte taking on sixth-seeded Duquesne. The other quarterfinal features home-standing Dayton, seeded fourth, versus fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's. The two top seeds - Saint Louis and Rhode Island - have byes to Friday's semifinals, which are set for 5:30 and 8 p.m. Sunday's championship match will kickoff at 1 p.m. For tickets, please call 937-229-4433.

Live stats from Gametracker will be available at DaytonFlyers.com for all five games of the Championship. Flyer Radio (99.5 FM) will also carry live coverage of UD's game Thursday at 8 p.m. and any other game the Flyers play in. Flyer Radio is also available on the internet. Visit Championship Central for complete coverage all weekend long.

THE FLYERS
The Flyers are 9-6-3 overall and enter the A-10 Championship after a fourth-place finish with a 5-3-1 conference mark, which snaps a streak of seven-consecutive A-10 regular season titles won by Dayton. Ironically, the last time the Flyers did not win the A-10 regular season was 1997 -- the only other time they have been a fourth-seed for the Championship.

FIVE FLYERS NAMED TO ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
Five UD women's soccer players were named to the 2005 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Teams in voting conducted by the conference's head coaches. Senior forward Reba Sedlacek, senior defender Alicija Bredlo and sophomore goalkeeper Niki Reed were named to the A-10 First Team, senior midfielder Katie Lowstuter was named to the Second Team and freshman defender Stephanie Wurth was selected to the All-Rookie Team. Sedlacek also earned mention on the A-10 All-Academic Team. Since 2001, the Flyers have averaged four players on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team.

UD'S HISTORY IN THE A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP
There has been no more dominant team than the Flyers in the A-10 Women's Soccer Championship since UD joined the league in 1995. UD won its first A-10 Championship in 1996 and has won four more since then (1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004). This year marks UD's first appearance in the quarterfinals since the A-10 moved to the six-team format in 2002. The Flyers' all-time record in the Championship is 12-4, a winning percentage of .750 which is best in conference history. UD is a 0-1 as a No. 4-seed (1997), 1-0 versus Saint Joseph's and 2-1 in tournament games at Baujan Field.

SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH'S
The fifth-seeded Hawks are riding high heading into their third-consecutive A-10 Championship appearance. Under fifth-year head coach Jess Reynolds, the Hawks enter the Championship 8-8-3 overall, but went 3-1-1 in their final five matches of the season to clinch a playoff spot. Earlier this season, the Hawks pinned a 1-0 upset on the Flyers at Baujan Field -- a loss which broke UD's 15-match home winning streak in A-10 games and also marked the first time UD was held scoreless in a conference game at home since 1997. Alisha Payne leads the team in scoring with 23 points on nine goals and five assists. She has scored three game-winners. Ali Wean is second on the team with 10 points and scored the game-winner versus Dayton. Goalkeeper Nicole DiEnna has played every minute this season and owns a 1.57 GAA.

THE SERIES VERSUS SAINT JOSEPH'S
UD leads the all-time series with SJU 10-1-0. The Flyers are 5-1-0 all-time versus the Hawks at Baujan Field and 1-0-0 all-time in postseason play. Dayton and Saint Joseph's met in last year's A-10 semifinals at Massachusetts, with the Flyers winning 2-1 on goals from Reba Sedlacek and former Flyer Tesia Kozlowski.

HOME SWEET HOME
Baujan Field, which the Flyers have called home since 1984, has been quite an imposing place for visiting teams. UD has played 191 matches there all-time, compiling an impressive 138-42-11 (.751) record in that period. Dayton has never lost more than five times in one season (5-5-0 in 1996) and has been perfect at home three times (6-0-0 in 2001 and 8-0-0 in 1987 and 8-0-0 last season). UD has won four times at home this season (4-2-1).

HEAD COACH Mike Tucker
Now in his 11th season at the helm, head coach Mike Tucker continues to climb the charts among the NCAA's winningest coaches. With a career winning percentage of .731 (154-55-5) entering 2005, Tucker ranks 11th on the NCAA's Division I active coaches list and 29th on the all-time list (includes all divisions).

THE REBA SHOW
The defending A-10 Offensive Player of the Year, senior forward Reba Sedlacek leads the Flyers in scoring this season with 19 points on eight goals and three assists. She was named the A-10 Player of the Week once this year and scored game-winning goals over Furman, Ohio, George Washington and St. Bonaventure. In conference play, her 10 points and four goals were also a team high. The senior also owns a 3.94 grade point average in Exercise Science and Fitness Management, earning her third consecutive spot on the All-Academic Team. With 35 goals and 19 assists, the senior is an assist shy of becoming UD's fifth all-time member of the 20-20 Club (20 career goals and assists).

BRED-WINNER
Senior defender Alicija Bredlo helped lead the UD defense which has allowed less than a goal per game for the fourth-consecutive season. She scored once and had three assists with her goal coming in UD's win over Furman. Bredlo assisted on the game-tying goal in UD's 2-2 draw with then-No. 6 Virginia on Sept. 11. A native of Burlington, Ontario, Bredlo's senior year comes on the heels of a junior campaign which saw her start all 22 games and score five goals, four of which were game-winners.

REED-ICULOUS IN GOAL
Named as a First Team All-Conference performer and the A-10 Player of the Week once, sophomore goalkeeper Niki Reed has owned the A-10's best goals against average all season and has played all but 44 minutes in goal. The sophomore transfer from Vanderbilt made seven saves against then-No. 25 William & Mary and eight saves against then-No. 6 Virginia in a pair of double-overtime ties at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic, and was named to the All-Tournament Team. She posted a 0.46 GAA in conference play with shutouts of Richmond, George Washington and St. Bonaventure.

LOWSTUTER MAKES SECOND TEAM
Senior midfielder Katie Lowstuter is one of just three Flyers to start all 18 games this season. The 2004 A-10 First Team All-Conference player is second on the team in scoring with eight points on two goals and a team-best four assists. Her 25 career assists ranks fourth all-time at UD. She was one of three Flyers named to the All-Tournament Team at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic, helping UD to a pair of ties against nationally-ranked William & Mary and Virginia.

WURTH HER WEIGHT IN GOLD
Named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team, freshman defender Stephanie Wurth has played nearly every minute of every game since being inserted into the starting lineup against then-No. 25 William & Mary also played a key defensive role in UD's 2-2 tie with then-No. 6 Virginia. She was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic. Wurth was part of a UD defense which allowed opponents just 16 goals in 18 matches and just 5 goals in 9 conference games. Her place on the All-Rookie Team marks the sixth-consecutive year UD has had a student-athlete on the team.

WINNING WAYS
Since 2000, the women's soccer team owns the seventh-best winning percentage of any program at the NCAA Division I level. Entering this year, UD was 84-23-2 between 2000 and 2004, a winning percentage of .780.

ONE-GOAL WONDERS
Since 2003, (62 matches), more than half (38) have been decided by one goal or less. The Flyers are 24-9-5 in those close-calls, including an incredible 12-2-0 last season and 5-5-3. UD had won 12-straight (including both in the A-10 Championship) last year, before the 2-1 loss in overtime to Wisconsin in the NCAA First Round. Already this season, 13 of UD's 18 matches have been decided by a goal or less.

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
The Flyers were 3-1-0 in their overtime matches last season and are 0-0-3 this season. UD went to double overtime in both matches at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic and ended with a 1-1 draw to William & Mary and 2-2 deadlock with Virginia. UD also tied Richmond 0-0 in double OT. All time, UD is 21-12-12 in overtime matches, but an impressive 15-5-8 under Tucker. The loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament First Round last season was UD's first overtime defeat since the 1999 season.

RECORDS FALL IN 2004
UD ended with a 20-2-0 record, held the nation's longest winning streak at 20 (a UD record), finished ranked 20th and had one of the NCAA's best winning percentages (.909). Additionally, the Flyers broke the school record for wins previously held by the 1999 team that went 18-5-0 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in team history. UD allowed just 12 goals all season and shutout a school-record 13 of its 22 opponents -- the eighth-best percentage (.59) in the NCAA. UD also set a new school record for fewest goals allowed in a season (the old record of 14 was set in 2002).

UP NEXT
Should the Flyers win, the semifinal match would be against either No. 1 Saint Louis or No. 2 Rhode Island. Both SLU and URI have byes to the semifinal round and will be matches up according to the remaining seeds -- SLU taking on the higher-remaining seed (worse seed) and URI taking on the lower-remaining seed (better seed). UD will play in the 8 p.m. game Friday regardless of seed.