Nearly two decades later, Currier still looks forward to home games at Baujan. His team opened the 2024 season with a 5-1 win over Detroit Mercy on Thursday night and plays another home game at 3 p.m. Sunday against Jacksonville.
“We just got new lights,” Currier said Wednesday. “You don’t think much of it until they turn them on and you go, ‘Oh, wow, that makes a difference.’”
Currier next expected to hit the 20-year milestone but still has the same level of excitement.
“You go through preseason,” he said. “It’s early mornings. It’s rigorous, You’re going through a lot of ups and downs. You want to be able to play on home field, and to open up under the lights, is just phenomenal for the guys. They’re excited. They’re just ready to go. We know we’re going to have a nice crowd out there in arguably one of the best venues in college soccer. I know the excitement is extremely high right now.”
Dayton finished 8-7-6 last season and 3-1-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Flyers didn’t clinch an A-10 tournament berth until the last game of the regular season on Oct. 28 when they beat Massachusetts 3-1 at Baujan Field. They then won three games in three states as the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, beat No. 3 Loyola Chicago, No. 2 Davidson and No. 1 Virginia Commonwealth.
Dayton won its fifth A-10 tournament title and third in the Currier years, following championships in 2008 and 2015. In its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015, Dayton lost 4-3 to Louisville in the first round.
Currier hopes that experience pays off a year later for the returning players.
“It just gives them a better understanding of what it takes,” he said. “They got to see Manny Day and Logan Brown in their last semester and how a senior reacts to adversity and see how they battled so hard because they didn’t want it to end. Then they got to see, arguably, one of the better college soccer players in the country, Kenji (Mboma Dem). When you get to see that experience, it just gives you more drive and motivation. They got to see the rewards of winning at that level, and all the things that come with it and all the excitement that happens at the end. But they also got to see how difficult it is being on the road and being down and having to fight your way back.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Mboma Dem, a senior forward who led the Flyers with nine games, was drafted by FC Cincinnati with the 27th pick in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft in December. It was the fourth straight year Dayton had a player drafted. Mboma Dem has appeared in 11 games this season for FC Cincinnati 2 in the MLS NEXT Pro division.
Dayton returns two players who received All-A-10 preseason honors: sophomore midfielder Miles Bonham, who ranked second on the team in minutes played last season; and junior midfielder Joseph Melto Quiah, who had four goals and five assists last season but was limited to 11 appearances because of injuries.
“Joseph was injured quite a bit last year and wasn’t able to finish the season,” Currier said. “He looks to be in good form. He’s gotten some accolades over the years from the A-10. If he can maintain his form, he’ll be kind of the go-to guy offensively.”
Dayton’s roster includes 15 newcomers, a mix of transfers and freshmen. Luis Bremaud, a freshman defender from France, started both preseason games. Sophomore forward Felix Buabeng, of Ghana, is a transfer from Campbellsville University, a NAIA program in Kentucky, and also played well in the preseason, Currier said.
Senior forward Ethan Sassine, a transfer from Georgia State who scored seven goals last season, will also contribute.
“He’s demonstrated some really good qualities ever since joining us in the spring season,” Currier said.
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