By Gary Pottebaum (University of Dayton Defensive Coordinator)

The season is just around the corner, and everyone is excited to suit up and play.  After a successful scrimmage vs. Michigan State, we look to take it one step further than last year.  An uninspired National Championship performance has reinspired the 2010 Flyers.  Losing last year’s leaders, the team was lacking identity until our matchup in Lindenwood in the fall.

We have five tough games to start.  Not one is a layup.

Elon and SCAD come to Cincinnati to play us the opening weekend.  We have an excellent venue set up at Mason High School.  Elon comes to town with a chip on their shoulder, after just missing the 2009 MCLA Tournament.  The following day, we get to face a young, and very talented SCAD team.  Let’s just hope the weather cooperates.

The next action we see will be against a re-tooled Harding team.  With a new head coach at the helm, I am certain that they will be in contention for the GRLC title.

The following weeks will bring matchups against Davenport, St. John’s, and Grand Valley.  If we make it through that meat grinder unscathed, I am confident that the National Championship Trophy with be within our grasp.

We have some key new-comers to the team this year, and they will be crucial to our success.  Will McCormick, a HS All-American from St. Louis, replaces the loss of Alex Walter at attack.  Add Connor Carroll (transfer from Lynchburg) to the mix at Midfield, and Alex Urban’s production should also be replaced.  These guys can play fast!!  Last but not least, we add two younger brothers of former U.D. All-Americans, in Gerry Jehling(transfer from Roanoke), and Andrew Urban.  Both are quite different than their older brothers, and bring a lot to the table.  They will both contribute heavily, and continue to make us stronger.

Guys to watch on offense this year will be John Morrow(A), and Sean Hartnett(M).  Both should lead their units in scoring.  Even more exciting for us is the Goalie controversy that has arisen from the emergence of Ben Domyancic last year from literally nowhere.  Alex “AR” Reynolds returns to cage with his 71% career save percentage, after a disappoiniting end to last season with a torn ACL.  He will get the nod to start the season, with Ben waiting in the wings if he can’t maintian his stellar form from his first two seasons.  All signs point to a full recovery from Alex, as he had an excellent showing in our pre-season scrimmage with MSU.

All in all, we should have improved from last year, and I am sure that everyone else has!!  Here is my pre-season top 25.  There is no secret formula here, mostly opinion, coupled with some knowledge and data:

1.  St. Thomas
2.  Dayton
3.  Davenport
4.  Elon
5.  St. John’s
6.  Emory
7.  Westminster
8.  Northern Colorado
9.  Biola
10.  Western Oregon
11.  Grand Valley
12.  Missouri State
13.  Cal State Fullerton
14.  Utah Valley St.
15.  Hope
16.  Kennesaw St.
17.  UC Santa Cruz
18.  NC Charlotte
19.  Briarcliffe
20.  Southern Oregon
21.  Western Washington
22.  Creighton
23.  Wheaton
24.  Oakland
25.  SCAD

It should be exciting this year, so stay tuned with week to week updates.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Blogs, Gary Pottebaum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.