Boxscore
KINGSTON, R.I. – Sophomore Alexis Garcia scored a goal 39 seconds into the first overtime to give the University of Dayton a 1-0 win over St. Bonaventure in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Tournament semifinal game Friday night at URI Soccer Complex.
Fellow sophomore Colleen Williams had the assist, her league-leading 10th helper of the season. Williams hit a driving shot and the keeper bobbled it. Garcia pounced on it and finished for the golden goal. It’s her fifth of the season and second game-winner.
“I can breathe now,” said UD Head Coach Mike Tucker, following the match. “This is a very satisfying win. The Bonnies battled tooth and nail and I give them tons of credit. They deserved to be there.”
The win avenged UD's regular season 2-1 loss to St. Bonaventure (Oct. 24), UD's only conference loss this year and first since 2008.
Senior goalkeeper Lisa Rodgers earned her league-leading 10th shutout of the season and improves to 13-1-0. The Flyer defense of Alli Giner, Kelsey Miller and Kathleen Beljan allowed just one shot on goal.
The Flyers and Bonnies finished with five shots each. UD only had one shot in the first half and had three in the second and the only shot of OT, all on goal.
“In the first half we played extremely tentative,” said Tucker. “At the half we talked about how we had to attack. We got lots of chances. Jerica (DeWolfe) had a great opportunity off a pass from Colleen but the keeper made it great play tipping it over the bar. We continued to keep the pressure on.”
The Flyers (17-3) will have a chance to defend their A-10 Tournament title when they take on Charlotte (16-4) in a rematch of last year's championship final (which Dayton won 2-1) this Sunday at 1 p.m. at URI Soccer Complex. The two teams did not meet during the regular season and shared the A-10 Regular Season crown. The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The women's soccer selection show will be held Monday at approximately 4:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
“We are excited to play Sunday in a rematch of last year’s championship,” said Tucker. “Charlotte is scoring a ton of goals right now. We will have to defend very well and get much stronger in our attack.”
