Golz said the returning players gained confidence and experience while finishing 16-4-1 last season. That followed a 7-6-1 finish in 2020 and a 12-6-2 finish in 2021.
“We returned a lot of players from last year, including five fifth-year seniors,” Golz said Wednesday. “If we’re at our best, we have the talent to compete at a pretty high level. Last season, falling just short of winning a league championship and being the highest-ranked RPI team to not make the NCAA tournament built a little bit of resolve in our group. We have aspirations of making the NCAA tournament and winning the A-10 championship. Those are things we prepare for. It’s not something we talk about every day necessarily, but it’s certainly what drives standards within our program and preparation within our program.”
Dayton opened the 2023 season with a pair of 4-1 victories at Baujan Field. It beat Loyola Maryland 4-1 on Aug. 17 and Cincinnati 4-1 on Sunday.
The Flyers stay home for their next two games. They play Louisville at 8 p.m. Thursday. That game time was moved back an hour because of high temperatures. Dayton then plays Illinois at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Sophomore forward Mairin Wessner tallied three goals and an assist in the first two games and was named the A-10 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
“We had to replace some attacking pieces,” Golz said, “and we’re pretty encouraged and pretty excited by some of the the younger players that have come in who used last year to grow and develop, and Mairin is one of them.”
Wessner scored two goals last year in 17 games. Senior midfielder Madison Wilson, who had one goal in each of the first two games, did not play last season because of an injury. Sophomore forward Karli Ferguson, who scored a goal in the opener, did not score last season in 11 appearances.
Golz mentioned freshman forward Maddie Bowman and freshman midfielder Emma Gianino as two newcomers who have contributed.
Dayton needed someone to pick up the scoring after Itala Gemelli transferred to Alabama after three seasons with the Flyers. She scored 12 goals in each of the last two seasons.
Dayton returned its other top goal scorers: forwards Laney Huber and Alicia Donley, both fifth-year seniors; senior defender Natalie Hegg; and Beavercreek grad Diana Benigno, a senior midfielder.
Two other key returners are: Mackenzie Lutz, a fifth-year senior defender who is a two-time A-10 first-team selection; and sophomore goalkeeper Batoul Reda, who was named to the A-10 all-rookie team last year.
Dayton started 3-0-1 last season before losing 4-0 to Ohio State. It is off to another strong start this year.
“In the first games of the season, everyone is still very much a work in progress,” Golz said, “but we’re encouraged by the number of opportunities we created and excited about certain phases of the game. We controlled quite a bit terms of possession and where the game will be played and pressed defensively. To come out on day one and look pretty sharp and get four goals against against a good team, it was a great way to start the season.”
Dayton’s first opponent, Loyola, finished 6-8-4 last season. Its second opponent, Cincinnati, was 7-3-7 last season.
“Sunday games, you just never know,” Golz said. “It was hot and humid. Cincinnati is a good opponent, different than Loyola. They certainly stressed us and pressed us, and we had to solve a different set of problems than we did on Thursday. I thought we did a really good job of being persistent and disciplined with our defending and finding opportunities to go forward and build some momentum and score some good goals.”
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