Oct. 3, 2007

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DAYTON, Ohio - Through nine non-conference games in 2007, the Dayton Flyers are riding a wave of confidence heading into Atlantic 10 play.

Behind a goal and an assist by sophomore Alex Torda, the Flyers continued to roll with a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.

Freshman Josh Albers tallied his second goal of the season and senior Zac Gibbens made two saves in net UD improved to 6-1-2 overall and 4-0-0 at Baujan Field.

"We have been getting some good breaks, but we are playing hard and fighting to the end," said Torda. "Everyone is giving it there all, everyone wants to play and everyone is competing."

Dayton, ranked No. 3 in the Middle Atlantic Region, is unbeaten in its last five games going 4-0-1 in that span. Oakland drops to 4-3-2 overall and 2-1-0 on the road.

Once again the Flyers received a strong contribution from its defense and got just enough offense to pull away. Out of the nine games played in 2007, all but one have been decided by one goal or less.

"I think this started back in the spring with the guys working hard and our preseason was very strong," UD head coach Dennis Currier said. "I don't know if I'm surprised, but what I am happy with is we competed in every game."

Albers got UD going less than six minutes into the first half when he converted a quick one-timer through the middle of the box to put the Flyers ahead 1-0. Torda delivered the assist after taking advantage of a defensive breakdown in the Golden Grizzlies zone.

"It was more of a team thing," Albers said. "That's all we did yesterday was working on patterns and it was the exact same pattern that worked perfectly. I played the ball to (DeCamps), he played it back, I sent it to Torda, he went down the line, played a great ball and I put it away."

Then at the 18:36 mark of the first half Torda picked up his fourth goal of the season when junior Florian DeCamps threaded a pass 15 yards out on the left side to put Dayton ahead 2-0.

"Torda is just one of those kids that just out-works everybody out on the field," Currier said. "That goes along with his practices, before practices, after practices and he was superb tonight. He's shown he's going to be dangerous up top."

But Oakland got on the board with 45 seconds remaining in regulation when sophomore Sebastian Harris converted a penalty kick to cut the UD lead to 2-1.

That would be all the Golden Grizzles could muster as Gibbens, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Wednesday, picked up his Atlantic 10 leading sixth victory of the year in net.

"It was important to get up against Oakland early because they've proved they are a great second half team," said Currier. "I thought our offensive pattern plays were great in the first two goals and I thought we created a lot of chances after that. The defense once again was very strong all night."

Dayton returns to action in their A-10 opener on Friday, Oct. 12 against the Massachusetts Minutemen beginning at 3 p.m. ET.