DAYTON – The University of Dayton women's soccer team had a record-setting campaign in the fall of 2021, returning to a normal length season following the 2020 season being shortened and played in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
After opening the season with a home exhibition match against Eastern Kentucky and a road exhibition match at Cincinnati, the Flyers opened the regular season with two road matches against Mid-American Conference foes Akron and Kent State, a 2-0 victory in Akron, and a 5-0 win in Kent, Ohio. Dayton opened the home portion of the schedule on Aug. 26 with a 2-1 overtime victory over Northern Kentucky.
 
In their toughest portion of the schedule to finish August and beginning September, the Flyers went 0-4-2, highlighted by a draw at Kentucky on Sep. 2. After an Atlantic 10 opening loss at Saint Louis, Dayton went on a four-match win streak with wins over La Salle, Davdison, and Saint Joseph's, before earning a win on Senior Day at Baujan Field against George Mason.
 
The Flyers would continue their hot streak in the last month of the season going on to win four of their last five Atlantic 10 matches, finishing the conference season with an 8-2 record, their best A-10 record since the 2015 season.
 
On the strength of their 8-2 conference record, the Flyers earned a #2 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championships, and hosted a quarterfinals match at Baujan Field. On Halloween day, in front of over 500 fans, the Flyers earned a 3-1 victory over the Richmond Spiders, and earned the right to host the semifinals and finals of the Atlantic 10 Championships by virtue of being the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinals.
 
The Flyers welcomed a familiar foe to Baujan Field for the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals, in the Saint Louis Billikens. After battling to a 2-2 halftime draw, the Billikens netted two second half goals to dash the Flyers' hopes to reach the conference championship match.
 
The Flyers finished the season with a 12-6-2 overall record, with an 8-2-0 mark in Atlantic 10 play. Home field advantage was very kind to the Flyers in 2021, posting a 7-1-1 record at Baujan Field, while remaining over .500 on the road at 5-4-1. The seven wins at home were the most for the Flyers since the 2014 season, when they won nine of 11 home matches.
 
The 2021 season was Eric Golz's winningest season as the head coach at Dayton, posting a .650 winning percentage and 12 victories. The Flyers made the Atlantic 10 Championships for the fifth consecutive time under head coach Eric Golz, each of the five seasons he has coached at Dayton.

 Team Rankings

• Goals: 44, 1^st in Atlantic 10
• Goals per game: 2.10, 1^st in Atlantic 10, 38^th in NCAA Div. I
• Goal Margin: +0.81, 1^st in Atlantic 10
• Shots: 358, 2^nd in Atlantic 10

The Flyers were regulars on the conference awards releases, including:

Awards

• Noel Blain: Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, Sep. 7,
• Itala Gemelli: Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 27, Oct. 4, and Oct. 18.

CollegeAdvantage Student-Athlete of the Week, Sept. 29 and Oct. 21.
Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, First Team All-Atlantic 10 forward.

• Laney Huber: CollegeAdvantage Student-Athlete of the Week, Nov. 3, Nov. 10

Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team, Nov. 7
Second Team All-Atlantic 10 forward

• Mackenzie Lutz: Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week, Aug. 23

First Team All-Atlantic 10 defender

• Hannah Osland: Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week, Sep. 7

CollegeAdvantage Student-Athlete of the Week, Sep. 8

• Jessica Sheldon: Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week, Oct. 25

CollegeAdvantage Student-Athlete of the Week, Oct. 27
First Team All-Atlantic 10 midfielder
Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team

• Marlee Taylor: Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 23

Second Team All-Atlantic 10 midfielder
 

The Flyers also express their gratitude to their four departing seniors, Hannah Osland, Alexa Holl, Lexy Kidd, and Gill Losey.