DAYTON – The University of Dayton women's soccer team looks to punch its ticket to the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon, hosting No. 4 seed Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 Championship Final at 12 p.m. at Baujan Field.
ABOUT DAYTON
The Flyers (15-3-2; 10-0-0) come in to the day's match looking to win the program's 11th Atlantic 10 Championship final. Sophomores
Laney Smith leads the team in total points (17 - 6 goals, 5 assists), with fellow sophomore
Liv Grenda right behind (16, 6 goals, 4 assists). Keeper
Batoul Reda has program-record 14 shutouts on the season to lead NCAA Division I, and has 41 clean sheets for her career.
SCOUTING RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island (13-5-2; 5-3-2) enters the A-10 Championship Final having drubbed reigning champion Saint Louis, 4-2, at SLU. The Rams' victory snapped an A-10 Championship win streak dating back to 2017 for the Billikens. Lauren MacDonald scored a pair of goals in the win and leads URI with 10 on the season. Kaia Rice and Jill Rosenfeld also scored to hand the eight-time defending champions the 4-2 defeat.
SERIES STUFF
Dayton owns a decisive advantage over Rhode Island in the 28-year history of the matchup, winning 21 times in 25 games. The Flyers and Rams played in the final game of the regular season, with UD coming out ahead by a 2-0 final. Senior
Karli Ferguson scored her first goal of the season and freshman
Emery Newlin tallied her first career brace.
LAST TIME OUT
• Dayton scored on a penalty kick from
Kyra Karfonta in the ninth minute of play, and the Flyer defense stood tall to make that goal stand, topping Fordham 1-0 in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal.
• A foul drawn inside the penalty box by sophomore
Lauryn Contini set up the penalty opportunity for Karfonta, who is now 3-for-3 on the season in PKs.
• The shutout was the 14th on the season for senior keeper
Batoul Reda and the Dayton defense. The Dearborn, Mich. native saw nine total shots and two on-goal in the match. She leads NCAA Division I in clean sheets for the season and is the active leader for career shutotus.
• Dayton held the advantage in shots overall (17 to 9) and shots on goal (5 to 2).
DAYTON IN THE ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE GAME
• Sunday is the second time in the nine years of the
Eric Golz era that the Flyers have played for an Atlantic 10 Championship title.
• The last time the Flyers played for a title was in 2022, when UD fell to Saint Louis 4-0.
• Then-freshman
Batoul Reda was named to the All-Tournament team.
• UD last won the event in 2016 when, as the No. 7 seed of the tournament, it topped No. 1 Saint Joseph's 7-0 at Rhode Island.
• Dayton put their best foot forward during their run to the 2016 Championship, winning the opening round over No. 2 Saint Louis 3-0, and winning the semifinal over No. 6 George Washington by a 2-0 final.
• Sunday marks the second time the Flyers and Rams have played for an Atlantic 10 Championship title. The two first squared off for the 2004 title, with Dayton emerging victorious in a 1-0 overtime game.
• That UD team was the last Flyer 11 to have a perfect march through the A-10 schedule, going 11-0.
STREAKING!
• The Flyers currently hold the longest winning streak in all of NCAA Division I soccer, boasting 13 consecutive wins.
FLYERS SHINE IN AWARD SEASON
• Dayton proved that team success leads to individual accolades, as four Flyers won yearly Atlantic 10 awards and nine student-athletes were named to the All-Atlantic 10 first or second teams.
• Sophomore
Liv Grenda was named the A-10 Midfielder of the Year, senior
Kyra Karfonta earned the Defensive Player of the Year nod, fellow senior
Batoul Reda was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year, and head coach
Eric Golz won Coach of the Year.
• All three award winners were also named All-Atlantic 10 first team honorees and were joined by sophomore forward
Laney Smith, who earns the nod for the second straight season.
• UD also placed a program-record five student-athletes on second team, as senior forward
Karli Ferguson, senior midfielder
Molly Russell, senior defender
Ella Raimondi, redshirt sophomore
Lauren Fields and sophomore
Bre Mendoza earned the nod.
• The freshman trio of
Ky Hau-Golden,
Emery Newlin and
Caroline Schork were each named to the A-10 All-Rookie team.
• Rounding out the honors was the trio of Grenda, Raimondi and Reda being named to the Atlantic 10 All-Academic team.
ATLANTIC 10 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
• Dayton's victory over George Mason at the end of October gave the Flyers their first Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship since the 2013 season.
• UD sealed the first perfect season since 2004 with a 2-0 road win at Rhode Island to finish the regular season.
• The win also secured the top seed for the Atlantic 10 Championship, giving Dayton homefield advantage throughout the tournament.
• The Flyers have won more A-10 Championships than any other program since joining the league in 1995, having 12 regular season titles and 10 conference tournament titles.
CLIMBING THE RANKINGS
• Dayton has seen its name in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 for the last two weeks, coming in this week at No. 20.
• The Flyers were also receiving votes in this week's Coaches Poll, and are No. 25 in the most recent edition of RPI.
CLIMBING THE (STAT) RANKINGS
• Dayton's defense has been climbing the national rankings since conference play began. Not only do the Flyers rank No. 1 in goals against average in the conference, but they also rank sixth nationally.
• UD's shutout percentage is also among the country's elite, leading the A-10 and No. 3 in in Division I behind Tennessee and St. Mary's.
• The Flyers' team save percentage of .870 ranks fifth-best in the NCAA.
UP NEXT
• A win Sunday afternoon will guarantee the Flyers playing as the Atlantic 10 representative in the NCAA Tournament.
• No matter Sunday's result, the Flyers have a chance to be named to the NCAA Tournament via at-large bid, but will have to wait to find out their fate.
• The 2025 NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m.
