A lone 4-1 win against Eastern Illinois University was enough for the University of Dayton men’s soccer team to be named co-champion of its
own Dayton Marriott Classic on Sunday, Sept. 9 at Baujan Field.
Dayton (4-1) claimed the title along with Missouri State University, despite only playing one match because of the team’s Friday, Sept. 7
match against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay being rained out. MSU played in two matches, defeating EIU on Friday and tying UWGB
on Sunday.
“It was important that the guys really had a lot of energy this weekend after we really wanted to play on Friday night,” head coach Dennis
Currier said. “We were able to take that energy and put it into today, and offensively we had a great output.”
Junior forward Abe Keller was named co-MVP of the tournament off his goal-and-two-assist effort against EIU. Graduate senior midfielder
Eddie Jones, along with a pair of juniors in midfielder Andres Acevedo and defender John Howe, were named to the all-tournament team.
After falling behind 1-0, Dayton got on the board off a header by senior forward Evan McCreary in the 20th minute.
Just under four minutes later, Acevedo put his team ahead on his third goal of the year after finishing toward the far post from in the penalty
area.
“This team just has good team chemistry,” Currier said. “We had talked about coming back and trying to score at least three goals today, and
we came out on fire. It was a little bit discouraging when they scored off their first chance. We have a lot of confidence in this offense, and as
soon as we got that first one, I thought we’d be able to open the game up.”
Keller set the tone with a long distance shot in the opening minutes of the second half that beat EIU goalkeeper Turner in the upper left corner
of the net.
“I just got it and took one guy on, and as soon as I hit it I felt it was in,” he said. “I know I got that curve, and it’s a great feeling to score and
win again.”
Currier said the team moved Keller around during the match from midfield to the front and back because of how efficient he was on the pitch.
“Abe has great long-range shooting and he has been really on this year,” he said. “When he gets in that channel, he certainly has the ability to
put the ball in the back of the net.”
Jones finished the scoring with a 71st minute goal that also gave Dayton the best goal differential amongst the four teams in the tournament at
plus-three.
Both matches in the tournament were delayed Friday because of lightning in the area. While MSU and EIU were able to play out the match,
the Dayton and UWGB contest was able to be kicked off after an hour and a half delay, but was stopped four minutes in and canceled by the head
official. The match will not be made up.
Currier said the plan after a long night of having to sit around was to find a way to store the energy of his players.
“We didn’t do much on Saturday just to keep them hungry,” he said. “They came out today in the locker room and had high energy and really
wanted to get out on the field and play this game today and get back to scoring goals because we didn’t score against College of Charleston.”
Freshman goalkeeper Chris Froschauer gave up only a single goal for a second straight match. Currier said he wishes they were able get him a
shutout he feels Froschauer deserves.
“He’s relieved the pressure for us,” Currier said. “Today, we were really hoping for a shutout because we felt he’s deserved to get one. But he
came up big with a couple of saves and he keeps us in the game. The longer he keeps us in the game, the better off we’ll be because we have a
high-powered offense this year.”
Keller said he has been a great freshman and helps the team with his presence behind them.
“For the confidence in the team, you know you have a great goalkeeper in the back who can make great saves,” he said.
On top of his MVP performance, Keller said he was just happy the team played great because of how eager they were to play after Friday.
“Everyone [Friday] was like, ‘Why is the game canceled?’,” he said. “And everyone was disappointed because we just wanted to play. I think
we did well keeping the energy with us, and we just brought that out on the field. I thought we did well for a … Sunday afternoon.”
Dayton held a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks over EIU, while also out-shooting them 22-19.
Dayton next hosts Gardner-Webb University at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, at Baujan Field.
