by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

LA CROSSE, Wis. – At what point can we say we’re looking at a new Dayton team?

After the Flyers’ 16-4 rout of Florida Gulf Coast on Friday afternoon to push their record to 4-0, it’s easy to think they’re back to their old selves and that last year's uncharacteristic 4-7 campaign.

Three of the four wins were against ranked teams at the time of the game, which is a nice feather in Dayton’s cap.

But again, is this Flyers team on a different arc than last year’s; one that ended with six consecutive losses and a first-round wipeout at the hands of Montana State in Salt Lake City?

There’s a sense that this Dayton team is much improved, but, realistically, we’re in a holding pattern.

Coming off this weekend last year, the Flyers were 4-1 with wins over a couple of then-PCLL teams, Columbus State and a season-opening win over Purdue.

They didn’t win again.

The win over No. 9 FGCU already eclipses any of last year’s accomplishments. If you’re going to parse the win, you could argue that the absence of All-American goalie Austin Cotton for the Eagles played a role, but that’s conjecture.

We’re going to see the games against No. 16 Central Conn. State and No. 2 St. Thomas in the next two days to really make any kind of definitive statements on Dayton.

Two wins, and we'll know the Flyers are back.

Mustangs Ride
No. 12 Cal Poly took all the suspense out of Friday night's contest with No. 18 Santa Clara, racing out to a 4-0 lead after the first 15 minutes and holding a commanding, 10-3 lead at halftime on the Mustangs' way to a 16-7 road win.

Cal Poly is now in control of the WCLL south division, and are near locks to be one of the three teams advancing to the conference tournament. A win over Dominican on April 6 will give the Mustangs the inside track on the top seed.

A three-game non-conference streak against Virginia Tech, Chapman and Brigham Young has the potential to vault Cal Poly into the Top 10, if not higher.

Slides & Rides
No. 3 Georgia Tech gained a measure of revenge for one of its losses last year with a 14-6 defeat of No. 16 Florida State. Have to think the Yellow Jackets are playing for a seed at this point…weather has moved some of the Judgement games on Saturday. Make sure to double-check the schedule page for current times…No. 9 Colorado took down No. 17 Clemson, 16-11. The Tigers hung tough for 45 minutes, but the Buffs pulled away…No. 2 St. Thomas spotted No. 6 Grand Valley State the first three goals of the game, but exploded in the third quarter for a 12-8 victory…Boise State’s 10-7 win over Simon Fraser puts some serious pressure on the Clan to make the PNCLL tourney…Utah Valley is 3-0…Indiana posted a nice non-conference victory over Davenport, 13-7.