The once dominant No. 17 Saint Louis (10-3-5, 6-3 Atlantic 10) and Dayton (12-4-2, 6-2-1 A-10) men's soccer teams find themselves in an unusual position at this week's A-10 tournament in Pittsburgh: win or go home.
With regular-season champions, Massachusetts, (9-6-3, 7-1-1 A-10) and surprise contender Temple (10-4-4, 6-1-2 A-10) earning first-round byes by clinching the top two seeds, the Billikens and Flyers will have to fight their way back to capture an A-10 tournament crown.
Ranked third and fourth, respectively, the former conference leaders will play the tournament's lowest seeds during the opening round on Nov. 13.
Winners of Thursday's games will take on Massachusetts and Temple in Friday evening's semifinals, with the first-place Minutemen facing the lowest remaining seed.
Dayton vs. Rhode Island
Third-ranked Dayton will meet sixth-seeded Rhode Island (8-7-3, 4-3-2 A-10) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The Flyers find themselves facing a squad that was just lambasted by Saint Louis at the end of regular season play, 5-0.
The Rams, who bumbled their way into the final tournament slot by way of a complicated tiebreaker, have not met the Flyers yet this season. Rhode Island is a streaky 2-3-2 in its last seven games, which included a 3-2 double overtime win over former powerhouse Charlotte.
Against fellow championship tournament participants, Rhode Island's record is 1-2. This lone Rams win came against first-place Massachusetts back on Oct. 12, accounting for the last time the Minutemen have lost in their current seven-game streak.
Dayton is 2-1 against tournament opponents, with 1-0 victories coming against both Saint Louis and Fordham and a loss to Temple (4-2). The aggressive Flyers, who lead the A-10 with an average of 3.78 offside penalties per game, have posted a 6-2-1 record and averaged over 2.4 goals per game in the past month of conference play. Flyer standout and Hermann Trophy candidate Alex Torda leads the conference in points per game with 1.78.
No. 17 Saint Louis vs. Fordham
In what looks to be a heated rematch of Fordham's Oct. 12 upset over SLU, the nationally ranked and fourth-seeded Billikens look to upend an underdog that has only once won an A-10 championship, in 1996.
Much like UMass, fifth-seeded Fordham exploded out of mediocrity within the last weeks of regular season conference play. Stepping up their game to hold four of the other tournament clinchers to within a one-goal differential, the Rams went 5-3-1 in the last month, holding A-10 runner-up Temple to a 0-0 double-overtime tie.
Strong goalkeeping has been key, as freshman and two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week honoree Ryan Meara has shined. Along with a stifling .872 save percentage, Meara's goals-against average of only 0.65 is second only to that of UMass keeper Zack Simmons (0.53). Meara was critical in Fordham's October upset of SLU, making six key saves.
SLU, on the other hand, was ranked ninth nationally at the time of last month's 1-0 loss to Fordham. It was then that the Rams handed the Billikens their season's first loss of only three losses overall.
SLU has floated around the top 25 NSCAA rankings for much of this season. All three losses, however, have come against top conference opponents and fellow A-10 tournament participants: Fordham, Dayton and Massachusetts. Two of those defeats have come in double-overtime, as SLU has played a somewhat unusually high total of six double-overtime games this season and is winless in extra time situations.
The Billikens enter A-10 tournament play leading the conference in all major offensive statistical categories and riding a five goal trouncing of Rhode Island, whom the Billikens would only face again if both teams were to make the championship round.
Field conditions and weather forecast
Duquesne University, though not fielding a team in competition, will serve as host at Pittsburgh's Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field. As of Nov. 10, the Weather Channel predicts showers prior to and throughout the evening for Thursday's match-ups. However, Rooney field is composed of Sportexe synthetic turf, which features a drainage system.
Holly J. Galvin can be reached at hgalvin@student.umass.edu.
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