Dayton falls to Saint Louis in penalty shootout

Photo by Keegan Gupta, director of digital media and photography.

Claire Owsiany | Contributing Writer

The men’s soccer team, ranked 6th in the Atlantic 10 conference, went up against top seed Saint Louis University Wednesday evening at the Bilikens’ field. The Flyers fell short to the Billikens in penalty kicks, after tying 1-1 in regulation and 2 overtimes.

The Flyers led the competition 17 minutes into the first half, when senior Manny Day crossed the ball into the lower left corner of the net after receiving a pass from sophomore Michael Adedokun.

Saint Louis came back in the second half equalizing the score 1-1 with a goal in the 76th minute by freshman CJ Coppola who deflected a free kick by junior Kevin Komodi.

Neither team could secure another goal before the 90 minute match was up, even with Dayton’s 16 shots compared to Saint Louis’ 8. Despite Dayton out shooting SLU, both teams had exactly 3 shots on goal.

At the end of regulation, the teams went off to play two ten minute overtime periods. Neither team was able to score a game winning goal, sending the game to penalty kicks.

The Bilikens started off penalties, scoring their first attempt. The Flyers, however, could not secure their first attempt. SLU again converted their second attempt, leading 2-0 to the Flyers in penalties. 

On Dayton’s second attempt, SLU’s lead was lessened, now only leading by 1. However, both teams missed their third attempts, keeping the score steady at 2-1, SLU leading. SLU secured the win when they converted their fourth attempt, while Dayton could not.

The game ended the Flyers’ 2022 season (3-2-3, 10-2-4) but they are hoping to secure a bid in the NCAA tournament, ranked at 46th currently. The Saint Louis Billikens (5-2-0,10-4-1) advanced to the A-10 championship Sunday.

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