Dayton's rugby team had their season end bitterly, but the successful season could be the sign of many more to come.

UD was an upstart team this season in the national rankings, bursting onto the scene with an upset over top-ranked Miami University in October. Climbing the ladder in the Division II rankings, the Flyers advanced all the way to the Midwest Final Four.

As the ball would roll, the Flyers were unable to advance to the national tournament, falling just short in the Final Four. With their season all but finished following the tournament, team members are looking to regroup for another run at a Midwest title next season.

In the Final Four, the Flyers dropped their first match to their archrivals from Miami. The bitter 21-20 last-minute defeat pushed Dayton to the brink of elimination and diminished their hopes of advancing to the national tournament.

Alex Barger, a junior finance, accounting and Spanish major, said that the end of the Miami game was just a case of someone being at the "wrong place at the wrong time." The Redhawks capitalized on a late penalty and converted on a final kick to win the game by just one point.

Needing to win and have already qualified Miami win in order to advance as one of the top two teams from the Midwest, Dayton held up on their end of the bargain by smashing St. John's (MN) by the score of 48-17. Unfortunately, UW-Whitewater beat Miami in the championship, advancing those two teams to the national tournament next month.

"Although we fell shy of a trip to nationals, our team is proud of everything we have accomplished this season," junior Jack Brennan said.

He said it was definitely an improvement and a big step for the UD team as a whole since arriving on campus his freshman year.

When Brennan first arrived on campus in the fall of 2007, the team was loaded with talented players but saw their regional hopes fall apart with a disqualification due to a lack of proper paper work. The team then failed to reach the regional tournament at all last year.

Barger, who will be the team president next season, remarked that it was a huge step for the program as "people all around the country were talking about University of Dayton's rugby team."

The team will now conclude its season in late-March with a road contest against Notre Dame, a Division I rugby program. With the improved nature of the UD team, they have been receiving many more invitations to play upper-tier teams such as Ohio State, Kentucky and now the Fighting Irish.

"A win against Notre Dame would say a lot about the quality of UD rugby and, although it will be difficult, we believe we can beat them," Brennan said.

Looking toward the future of the roster of the team as a whole, there will be many seniors and fifth-years graduating this coming May. The official team Web site lists 14 different individuals of having senior status, showing the experience that could be lost next season.

Despite this fact, team members are quite optimistic about the future of the Flyers rugby program. Always looking for fresh bodies to learn the sport, the team will continue to hold open practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the rest of the season.

"There is a lot of potential for next season and a lot of people are now more knowledgeable about the sport," Barger said.

With the UD rugby team falling just short in 2010, expect to hear much more about their successes next season.