RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Dayton men's soccer team clinched the automatic bid in the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a 2-1 victory over top-seed VCU Sunday.
The No. 6 seed Flyers (8-6-6) sealed the victory late while the No. 1 seed Rams (7-6-5) will hope for an at-large bid tomorrow.
SCORING BREAKDOWN
9:41 – The hosts scored in the 10
th minute after a saved shot rebounded back to the VCU player who drove it home for the opening goal and the early lead.
68:04 – Senior
Kenji Mboma Dem evened the score in the 69
th minute with a clinical strike off the assist from graduate student
Manny Day.
88:44 – With just over a minute to play, graduate student
Hjalti Sigurdsson headed home the game-winning goal off the assists from junior
Geni Kanyane and Day.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The Flyers out-shot the Rams 11-3 in the opening 45 minutes, but all three were on target for VCU.
- Dayton finished with 29 shots overall and put eight on goal while VCU had nine shots, six on target.
- Corner kicks were 9-2 in favor of the Flyers.
- Mboma Dem had a career-high nine shots in the effort while sophomore Sidike Jabateh recorded six shots with Day and Sigurdsson added three shots.
- Senior goalkeeper Dario Caetano totaled five saves on the game.
ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
COACH'S COMMENTS
"We have been on the road these last three games and these guys are warriors," said head coach
Dennis Currier. "They battled really hard and as you go through each stage, you get closer and closer and bond. I told them in the locker room before the game, we are right below the peak and we have to summit it. That's really the hardest part. I thought today we played outstanding. We dominated the game and had so many chances. I felt really good the second half and knew we were going to find some goals. The guys just battled really hard and made the University proud, and everybody that supported us. We really appreciate all the fan support. It's such an exciting time to win the A-10 Championship. These are hard to get and these guys deserve all the credit to really battle through everything."
UP NEXT
- The Flyers will find out who they face in the 2023 NCAA Tournament tomorrow at 1 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show.
