P.J.’s Picks; Men’s Soccer Week 2
With the first week done and gone, teams are prepping for early season tournaments which are usually comprised of about four teams. Most tournaments will be going on over the weekend starting either Friday or Saturday and ending on Sunday. One particular tournament I plan on keeping an eye on is the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic starting on Friday in Charleston, South Carolina. The main reason I’m interested in this one is because of my pick for the week, University of Dayton Flyers.
So far after their four matches of the 2012 season, including the exhibition matches, the Flyers are undefeated. During their pair of preseason games they defeated Bradley and Detroit then took on Ohio State in their season opener at home and two days later they defeated Kentucky. The Flyers are coming off of two back-to-back seasons of a losing record but seem to have turned things around this past preseason. Head Coach Dennis Currier has been at Dayton for eight seasons and has produced a few winning seasons in the past but the Flyers fell to a low in the 2010 and 2011 season. The Flyers have a good program as they have shown in the past and now they have the talent to back it up. The offense is led by forward Evan McCreary and midfielder Daniel Berko. Together they already have five goals in just the first two regular season games. McCreary and Berko are two names we will hear more often this season, especially as we get closer to the January draft. The defense has been working hard as well tallying 14 saves in the two matches allowing only five goals. Dayton starts off their tournament this week against Furman on Friday then they take on College of Charleston Sunday and will continue to make headlines even after the tournament this weekend.
