After a tough yet successful beginning to the season, the

Dayton Flyers women's soccer team will kick off their Atlantic 10

conference play this week. The Flyers played a very strong

nonconference schedule to start the year, including games against

nationally ranked Duke and Rutgers, and tough games against

Pittsburgh, Illinois, and Michigan away from home. The team

represented themselves well in these games, posting a 6-3 record

so far.

"[Coach Tucker] talks about our schedule a lot," sophomore

forward Kelly Blumenschein said. "We've played a lot of tough

teams. If we play like we did in those games, we should be able to

dominate a lot of the teams in our conference."

Blumenschein referenced the first half of the Duke game, in

which the Flyers held a 1-0 lead at the half.

Now though, the Lady Flyers turn their attention on the part

of the season that really matters; conference play. They kick off

their A-10 season at Baujan Field today with an important game

against Richmond. Then, they travel to Philadelphia to play St.

Joe's on Sunday.

Should the team be able to win its conference tournament, it will

move on to the NCAA Tournament, something the team has not

accomplished in several years. "We want to get to the NCAA's,"

junior forward Caitlin Proffitt said. "This is my third year and

we've never been there since I came here."

The women's soccer team is coming off of consecutive wins

over Wright State and Ball State to give them momentum going into

their conference opener. They also have the confidence gained from a

successful A-10 season last year. "We have the ability to win the

conference," Blumenschein said. "We played real well. We're really

deep this year and if we play as a team, there's no reason we

shouldn't come out on top." The Flyers return several of

the players from last year's team that went 6-2-3 in conference play

before losing in the A-10 Tournament semifinals in a 4-3 shootout to Fordham.

This year's team will look to rebound from that crushing defeat

in the semis and improve on the standard set last year.

Blumenschein cites several games last year against the lower tiered teams

of the conference where the Flyers did not perform at their best, saying

that the team knows it needs to focus better on every game, regardless of the team's record.

But although each game is important, the biggest rival is

Charlotte, a team that the Flyers want to beat for several reasons. In

a physical match against the 49ers last season, Dayton midfielder

Colleen Gibson broke her arm in a play that fired up this year's team.

However that is not the only reason that the Flyers want a shot

at revenge against Charlotte.

"We were preseason No. 2 in the A-10," Proffitt said. "Charlotte was

preseason No. 1. So we really hope to beat them and win the conference."

For seniors Deana Weintraub, Kim Sacher, Amanda Gallow, and Stephanie

Wurth, this is the last opportunity to make a mark on the A-10. With the

experience from last season's run into the tournament, hopes are high for

this year's Flyer team.

The A-10 season kicks off today at 4:00 p.m. at Baujan Field. The

expectations are high, and for good reason. Last year's team was

powerful, but this year's team is deep.

Throughout the first several games though, the team has

looked solid. Coach Tucker and his staff are stressing the team's

weaknesses, so that it will be ready to go come tournament time.

Blumenschein and Proffitt both referenced set pieces (i.e. corner

kicks and foul kicks). These set pieces have accounted for more than half

of the goals given up by the Flyer defense so far this fall. Under Coach

Tucker's watch and with the hard work being put in at practice, this

year's soccer team is off to a hot start, and should carry on into the

conference season.

Thanks to a tough schedule and hard work in the offseason, these Flyers

could be making waves come NCAA Tournament time. But they'll first have

to focus on their conference foes this year, and make sure that they take

each game as it comes.

One game at a time. That's the approach that these ladies are

taking to ensure they don't let their guard down in conference play.