The Dayton Flyers had everything riding on Sunday afternoon’s game against Geo. Washington at Baujan Field. A win or a tie meant an outright or shared A-10 title. A loss meant second place. Dayton made the most of it and pummeled the Colonials 4-0 for their third straight Atlantic-10 regular season title while improving their record to 15-4 (9-1). The Flyers are winners of a season-best eight games in a row — and 12 of their last 13.

The Flyers are becoming the team we all expected at the beginning of the season, and, despite winning games along the way, are starting to take charge on the field and put away the less-talented teams much easier now. This was the case on Sunday as Dayton picked apart GW all afternoon and created scoring chances without allowing the Colonials to get decent looks at the Flyer goal mouth. It was some of the best soccer of the season and though the UD coaching staff will find gaps or miscues to focus on as the Atlantic-10 tournament approaches, it’s clear that the Flyers are a much better team than they were a month ago — even when they were winning.

Megan McKnight got the Flyers started when she took a free kick from 25yds out that somehow slipped through GW wall and past the Colonial goalkeeper for a 1-0 Flyer lead. Sophomore Lindsey Whitehead made it 2-0 in the 44th minute when she cracked a well-struck ball from 15yds out after seizing a GW turnover near the box. The late first half goal was a backbreaker for GW and put a serious damper on any halftime speech the Colonial coaching staff had planned.

Dayton came out strong in the second half and continued to knock the ball around at-will, switching from strong side to weak side and using the backfield overlap to create quick counter-attacks into free space. While the Flyers did an outstanding job of winning head-balls in the first half, GW took charge in the air in the second half to keep things remotely competitive.

Judi Aschenbrener collected a ball from Erin Skladany inside the box in the middle of the second half and pulled off a turn-and-shoot that beat the GW goalkeeper to the low corner of the far post for a 3-0 Dayton lead. Sophomore walk-on Clare Quinter realized her dreams in the 85th minute by settling a cross from freshman Kara Kenney that she buried on the run for the final scoring of the afternoon.

Head Coach Mike Tucker has to be pleased with the Flyers over the last two weeks. Dayton took care of UMass and URI in a pair of crucial games a weekend ago, and took care of business this weekend with another pair of wins and the Atlantic-10 regular season title. The Flyers have yet to play the complete game they are capable of, but they are getting closer every time they step on the field.

Dayton still has trouble playing the ball to Missy Showtime Gregg early enough so she can take advantage of a flat back line or a one-on-one situation, and defensive clears are still shaky at times. But the Flyers are also doing a nice job of working the ball out of the backfield, moving the ball to the weak side, and shutting down the opposition’s scoring threats. Any team that wins a conference title doesn’t do it alone which is why the Sunday’s UDPride Player of the Game goes to the entire squad for stepping up all season when the conference race was on the line.

All of this means two things as the A-10 tournament approaches. First, Dayton should be the favorite to win the tournament and secure their second NCAA appearance. Finally, whatever happens to the Flyers from here on, there’s no mistaking the direction of the program. Coach Tucker and his staff have one of the youngest teams in the conference, and winning a league title this year means things will only get better — sooner rather than later. By all accounts, recruiting is going extremely well and more young but capable talent will be available in the coming years to push the veterans sooner than ever before.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s still unfinished business at hand and Dayton is salty for more success this year. It’s certainly there for the taking.