Losing a top recruit to another school that has recruited him is one thing. Losing a top recruit because of neglecting to contact him is another.

Many teams are finding that out about Dayton sophomore Chris Rolfe.

Rolfe, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, exploited a depleted Michigan men's soccer defense yesterday for the only strikes of the match. The Wolverines traveled to Dayton yesterday afternoon and lost a hard fought match 2-0. They now have a 1-2 lifetime record against their southern-Ohio foes. In front of more than 500 fans, the teams dueled on a dry and torn-up Baujan Field, as Dayton (4-3-1) earned its fourth straight win. Michigan, which was without injured defensive force Chris Glinski (turf-toe), was unable to contain the Flyers' leading scorer.

"Schools looked past Rolfe, and now he's playing with a chip on his shoulder," Michigan coach Steve Burns said. "He's a smart player. The guy scores goals!"

Even though Burns said the poor playing surface was "not an excuse," both teams made good adjustments. But Dayton was able to take advantage of Michigan's psychological blunders in the first half . Michigan (3-4-1) had a slow start and was not sharp mentally in the first half.

"We are looking to get more leadership from our captains (Joey Iding, Robert Turpin and Mike White)," Burns said. "The team needs to be better prepared mentally, as we are developing into a big game (target) of our opponents ... and it starts with the little things, like not being late to team meetings."

Michigan was a big game for Dayton, as the win gave the Flyers national exposure and helped their chances of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

"We're one of the only considerable games on their schedule," Burns said.

This trend is not going to stop, as teams look for Michigan's prestigious name, despite the program's youth, to boost their resumes.

"Teams look forward to playing us, it's a big game for all our opponents," Burns said. "Even the more prominent teams (notice us), wanting to keep our program down."

Despite the loss, Kevin Taylor and Iding produced strong performances defensively and motivationally. Iding even tried to inspire his teammates in the 36th minute, when he received a yellow card for a surprisingly hard tackle. At halftime, with a sense of confidence (despite the two-goal deficit), Iding and Taylor spoke to the team about creating better scoring chances against Dayton's effective defense. Those chances came in the second half, but were not as threatening as the opposing defense, which allowed just five shots on goal in the second half.

"We need to take advantage of our long-range opportunities and not always dribble into the box," Burns said.

As a possible result of not taking these shots and thus losing the ball, the Wolverines got countered which caused nine of Dayton's 13 shots on goal. Michigan netminder Joe Zawacki turned away seven shots for the game.

The psychological problems were not apparent Friday, when the Wolverines feasted on the Purple Aces of Evansville in a 6-2 pasting.

During his first start of the year, junior import Juergen Schmieder from Regensburg, led the Wolverines, as he collected his second hat trick of the year on assists from Adam Bruh, Kevin Taylor and Trai Blanks.

In an aggressive match, which featured 33 fouls and four yellow cards, Michigan continued its scoring assault with goals by Mychal Turpin, Knox Cameron and White.