Flyers Women’s Soccer to Face Xavier in NCAA Tournament First Round
(Photo via Carson Caprella)
Gabriel Ward | Sports Editor
DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton women’s soccer team (15-3-3) will face off against the No. 6 seed Xavier Musketeers (15-3-2) on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The match will be played at Xavier’s Corcoran Field and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Dayton will be making their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2016. The Flyers are both the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament champions and received the league’s automatic bid to the tournament.
The Musketeers finished second in the Big East behind only the Georgetown Hoyas, but went on to win their conference tournament with a 2-0 victory over the Hoyas in the final. It was the Musketeers’ fourth conference tournament title. Xavier will be making their seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Flyers goalkeeper Batoul Reda spoke on the matchup, saying, “Our coaches are going to prepare a game plan, we’re going to execute it, and then we should walk away with the win as long as we follow the game plan,” and “I think just preparing hard in training, pushing each other, and hopefully doing well on game day.”
This will be the 41st all-time meeting between the Flyers and Musketeers, with UD leading the series 26-10-4. Their last matchup was in 2019, when the two teams tied 0-0.
The winner between Dayton and Xavier will face either the No. 3 seed Colorado or Utah Valley on Nov. 20.