Dayton senior defender Ryan Handbury hails from Nottingham, England. Since the city is over 3,000 miles from Dayton across the Atlantic Ocean, Handbury hasn't seen home in over 18 months and his family only rarely sees him play in person.

But for Handbury, the last week has been a special one. His dad made the journey to UD last week and has watched his son play (for the first time in a year) three times in the 10 days he's spent in town. And all three games have transformed this season into a special one for the Flyers.

The men's soccer team welcomed Mr. Handbury to town by downing (at the time) the No. 11 Charlotte 49ers, then perennial power St. Louis. He then watched as the Flyers beat up on archrival Xavier 4-0 Friday night to assure themselves at least a share of the 2009 A-10 regular season conference championship.

Handbury said that he gauges his performance on a simple glance when his dad is in town.

"I look up there all the time during the game," he said. "And if he's smiling then I'm doing well. And if he's not got a smile then obviously I'm not doing good."

With all the success that Handbury and his teammates have enjoyed over the last three seasons, it's hard to believe that Friday marked the first time that the senior class beat Xavier.

"It's amazing," Handbury said of the win. "In my four years here, we had beaten every team [in the A-10]. The only team we hadn't beaten was Xavier, and we wanted to destroy them. We had such incentive tonight. We had a shot at the [regular season] title last year and we lost to them."

The Flyers started slow against the Musketeers but once the scoring started the beat down was on. Senior Jeff Popella, who had a game-high six shots and two goals, punched in his first score of the night in the 29th minute on a give-and-go from fellow senior Alex Torda. Popella then scored again in the 59th minute on assists from freshman Evan McCreary and Handbury.

"Popella's been playing excellent since he's come back [from a knee injury]," head coach Dennis Currier said. "But he hasn't put the ball in the back of the net on a consistent basis. I had a feeling before the game that he was going to do something because he's really been playing well."

Torda then added a goal of his own in the 70th minute to give the Flyers a 3-0 chokehold on Xavier. Finally, in his last regular season game at Baujan Field, senior Ryan Hartman (who doesn't see much playing time) added his first goal this season in the 90th minute.

Hartman, in his elation, took off his jersey and swung it over his head as he sprinted to the bench toward his teammates who met him in a mob scene celebration. As the head referee blew his whistle, walked toward Hartman and displayed a yellow card, Hartman's message was simple.

"I looked at him and I was like, 'It was totally worth it,'" Hartman said with a laugh.

"He's our guy that's the heart of this program," Currier said of Hartman. "You want him to be successful. He was injured all of last year and for him to be able to go in with three minutes left and execute his best shot-I was really happy for him and proud of him scoring."

After the final whistle, the entire Flyers sideline rushed the field to celebrate the conference title. In the midst of the bedlam, Zach Weiss and Mario Falsetti grabbed a water cooler as several Flyers ambushed Currier and held him still while the two midfielders drenched Currier in an ice bath.

"It feels good," Currier said with a laugh. "After it sets in though it's certainly cold. It's a great feeling knowing that we went through the toughest schedule in the conference and now have at least a share of the title. It just feels great."

As the celebration subdued, eventually, Ryan Handbury walked off Baujan Field for the last time with his senior teammates and shot his father that quick glance one last time-he was beaming. It was a special night near the end of what has become a very special season for the Flyers and nothing showed that like the smile of Mr. Handbury.