DAYTON, Ohio The University of Denver men’s soccer team fell to Dayton 3-1 in its season opener Friday night in Dayton, Ohio, at the Dayton Flyer Invitational. Senior midfielder Leon Abravanel (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) scored the lone DU goal.

 

Dayton (1-0-0) took an early lead when Alex Torda one-timed the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Teale Stone (Tulsa, Okla.) in the 19th minute of the first half. Denver (0-1-0) trailed 1-0 heading into the second half despite outshooting the Flyers five to three in the opening 45 minutes.

 

Just five minutes into the second half, freshman midfielder Zach Paul (Longmont, Colo.) rang the post with a shot from inside the box.

 

Six minutes later, with 33:51 to play, freshman defender Chase Humphrey (Ocean City, Md.) collected his second yellow card of the game, which resulted in an automatic red card. The Pioneers played one man short for the remainder of the game.

 

In the 64th minute, the Flyers went ahead by two with a goal by Zach Weiss. Seven minutes later, Dayton struck again to take a 3-0 lead over the Pioneers when Florian DeCamps curved a free kick around the Denver wall.

 

Freshman goalkeeper Gavin Dawson (Carrboro, N.C.) relieved Stone in net for DU with 15 minutes to play.

 

With 5:51 remaining, the Pioneers found the back of the net to make it 3-1, spoiling Dayton’s shutout. Abravanel scored Denver’s first goal of the season off a pass from sophomore midfielder Ryan Aweida (Broomfield, Colo.).

 

Stone and Dawson combined for two saves in the game, while Dayton’s Alex Davis tallied four. The Pioneers and Flyers totaled seven shots apiece.

 

The Pioneers collected seven yellow cards in the game, while the Flyers remained card-free.

 

Wisconsin (1-0-0) defeated Wright State (0-1-0) 2-1 in double overtime in the opening game of the tournament earlier Friday evening.

 

As the Dayton Flyer Invitational continues, Denver meets Wisconsin on Sunday at 9:35 a.m. MT. Dayton concludes the tournament against Wright State on Sunday afternoon.