UD wins 11th A10 championship
University of Dayton sophomore midfielder Ashley Campbell (8) and her teammates cheer after Campbell scored a third goal during a game against University of Richmond, Saturday, Sept. 28, at Baujan Field. UD won 4-0. (Ethan Klosterman/Photo Editor)
By: KATIE OBEAR – Staff Writer
The University of Dayton women’s soccer team heads into the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be held at Virginia Commonwealth University at Sports Backers Stadium from Thursday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 10, as the tournament’s top seed.
“It feels great to be in the tournament and it feels great to be the number one seed,” head coach Mike Tucker said.
The Flyers finished their regular season after splitting a pair of matches to finish A10 play, going 7-1-0 in the league and 12-5-1 in the regular season.
To add to that strong record, sophomore defender Megan Herr, senior defender Sarah Senoyuit, senior midfielder Juliana Libertin and senior defender Meghan Scharer were recently awarded academic all-district honors.
The team suffered its first loss of the A10 season at La Salle University 2-0 Friday, Nov. 1. This loss snapped UD’s streak of 11 consecutive games with a goal.
“The loss just motivated us to come back stronger and work harder in our last game,” freshman defender Kathleen Golterman said.
However, in its final game of the regular season, the team took on Saint Joseph’s University, winning the match 3-2.
“Offensively, when we work hard and do what we are supposed to do, we are pretty good,” Tucker said.
The team won its 11th regular season title and will be looking to capture a fourth A10 Championship during the upcoming tournament.
The teams participating in this Championship include: La Salle, Saint Louis University, George Washington University, VCU, Dayton, the University of Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure University and George Mason University.
UD will start by facing VCU Thursday at 5 p.m. Ranked as the eighth seed, the Rams finished the season 8-7-3 overall.
Also Thursday, La Salle, who finished as the second seed, will open with a game against George Washington and Saint Louis will take on Massachusetts.
St. Bonaventure, who finished with a 7-9-1 overall record, will be playing the newest member of the A10, George Mason. GMU finished with a 7-10-1 record overall.
The matches played Thursday will dictate who will play again in the tournament and who will advance to the semi finals Nov. 8 and potentially the final championship round, which will take place Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.
The winner will be receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins Nov. 15.
“It’s a little bit scary because the tournament is single elimination, but I’m just excited to be at the tournament because it’s my first time,” Golterman said.
The winners from the first part of the tournament between La Salle-GW and SLU-UMass will play in the first semifinal Friday at 5 p.m. Additionally, the winners from the second half of Thursday’s matches, which includes Dayton-VCU and St. Bonaventure-GMU matches, will play in the second semifinal, Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“There’s lot of excitement, but you have to rely on what you have done all year and hope the girls take their best into the tournament,” Tucker said.