Dayton, February 25, 2019 - Right after finishing the successful 2018 season winning the Great Lakes Division Championship, Head Coach Dan Griest has been working hard putting together another quality team for the 2019 USL League 2 season. With the start of the new season only three months away, we asked him about the 2018 season and the progress on the 2019 team.
What do you remember most about the successful 2018 season?
DG: In looking back on our 2018 season, obviously an emphatic 4-0 away win to clinch the division title is going to sit high atop the most memorable moments. However, I believe the away 1-1 draw with Lansing is probably the match that proved we had the guts and determination to push on to win the title. Having lost to them at home, it was a crucial away fixture, with huge league title implications. It is a difficult place to play, it was 100+ degrees, we had some injuries and we fell behind early and could have folded up shop. The boys came with everything they had the second half, and carried a majority of it, and were probably a bit unlucky not to take 3 points from the match. I think it was after that match that I realized we had the strength and desire to truly challenge for the league title.
The 2018 season finished the end of July. What did your recruitment process look like after the season?
DG: To be truly successful in this league, it is very much a year-round process. Throughout the fall we are taking in as many collegiate games as possible looking for those players that fit our system and demonstrate the drive and internal desire, we feel is necessary to be successful here. The city of Dayton is a very fundamentally hard working, no non-sense town. While we are always striving to get better, we are looking for players who understand that nothing in life is ever going to be easy, and that everything worth doing must be earned, and who want to push themselves and those around them every day to achieve a level they previously thought unattainable.
What has been the effect of winning the 2018 Division Championship on recruiting players?
DG: I am extremely excited about the 2019 season. Obviously, we hope that our success in 2018 will continue to breed further success with our 2019 campaign. There has been tremendous competition to get in our 2019 side. I am extremely optimistic that we will be able to repeat as Great Lakes Division champions given the caliber of players that we have been able to recruit on the back of our 2018 success and the huge opportunity that our US Open Cup position creates for this summer (one of only 10 in all of USL 2). I believe we are bringing in players who want to be here and fight for the city, who want to push themselves and those around them to get better, and who ultimately want to win a title and springboard themselves on to the next levels of their career, and I cannot wait for May 1st to get here to get busy on the pitch.
You're going into your 2nd season with the challenge to defend the Division Championship. Lansing is no longer in our Division, but Chicago was added. What is your opinion on the other teams in this years’ Division?
DG: I truly believe we are in the most difficult division in the country. There are never any so called "easy" games, and while Lansing has moved on, obviously adding a team the caliber of Chicago is going to be tremendously difficult as they knocked us out in final 16 last summer and carried on to the final four. The staffs throughout our division are tremendously competitive, and I believe that everyone is working tirelessly to field a team capable of winning a Great Lakes Division title for the 2019 summer. I expect nothing less than a "down to the wire" battle across our division for the entirety of the 14 matches.
What are your expectations for the team this year?
DG: I have made sure that each and every player I have recruited understands that the goals do not stop at simply repeating as Great Lakes Division Champions, and that we are striving to finish inside the Final 8 teams in the country and let the chips will fall where they fall from there. While our US Open Cup matches are relatively early in the summer, and we will not have our full complement of players, I am optimistic we can win a match or two and begin to turn some heads on the national stage. I believe the talent is here to not only make a noticeable run in the US Open Cup, and repeat as Great Lakes Division Champions, but win a Midwestern title and challenge for a national crown.
Why should people come and support our team?
DG: The team should be tremendously exciting to watch. The quick and tenacious attacking style of soccer we intend to play should provide plenty of fireworks for the average fan. Also, much of the team, myself included, has tremendous roots to the Dayton community and want nothing more than to win and be successful for the city. With so many Wright State and University of Dayton players playing important roles in the base or foundation of the team, I am hopeful that the Dayton soccer fans can embrace and rally around their efforts this summer and truly make it an experience to remember.
Come see the Men’s team in action this season at DOC Stadium in West Carrollton. The opening game is May 18 when they play Cincinnati Dutch Lions FC in their first of four derby’s in 2019. The game starts at 7pm. More information on all the activities and how to purchase tickets will be announced the coming weeks.