OXFORD, Ohio – Following a pair of strong results in the preseason, the Miami soccer team heads north on I-75 to open up its regular season this week.

The RedHawks face road tilts against in-state foes Dayton and Wright State on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).

Miami went 2-0 in its exhibition slate, defeating both Valparaiso (1-0) and Eastern Kentucky (4-0) in shutout fashion. Four RedHawks found the back of the net in the victorious exhibitions. Entering head coach Courtney Sirmans' second season, Miami boasts a young roster with 21 freshmen and sophomores and four upper classmen. Within that group are eight returning starters, including Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team performer Lyda Bogdanovitch, who led the team with six goals. Overall, MU's returners account for 14 of the team's 17 goals a year ago, a figure that the team looks to improve upon with a bolstered attack.

Dayton was pegged sixth in the Atlantic 10's Preseason Coaches Poll. The Flyers went 8-9-2 last season and reached the quarterfinal round of the A-10 Tournament. Micayla Livingston was UD's leading scorer with five goals and 12 points a year ago and she is back in the fold as a senior. Dayton returns five starters from its 2018 squad. The Flyers played both Cincinnati (1-1) and Eastern Kentucky (3-3) to draws.

Wright State went 3-0 in exhibition play, topping Canisius (2-1), Western Kentucky (1-0) and Purdue-Fort Wayne (4-2). WSU went 6-9-2 in 2018 and reached the Horizon League quarterfinals. All-Horizon League Second Team pick Maddie Jewell returns for her senior season in goal after notching a 1.61 goals against average and three shutouts a year ago.

Live stats are expected to be provided at both venues with links to that and possible video streams available on MiamiRedHawks.com.

Free Kicks

All-Time Series: Miami has not played a regular season tilt with Dayton since 2009 (2-1 loss) and is 0-3 all-time against the Flyers. MU is 6-3 all-time against Wright State with its last meeting coming in 2017 (2-1 loss).

Youth Will Be Served: The RedHawks boast an incredibly young roster with 21 of their 25 players being freshmen or sophomores. This marks the third-straight year that Miami has had at least nine freshmen on its fall roster.

2017: 13
2018: 15
2019: 9

Keeping it Close: Miami's non-conference schedule is not only confined entirely to the Ohio Valley, it's nearly entirely in the Buckeye State itself. Five of MU's seven non-conference tilts are against in-state foes (Dayton, Wright State, Cleveland State, Ohio State and Xavier).

What's for the Encore: At 11 players, Miami's sophomore class is its largest group on the roster. The bulk of them saw extensive playing time as freshmen, combining for 30 points, 113 matches played and 89 starts among the returning sophomores. The three top minute getters for the Red & White last year were freshmen.