DAYTON (OH) — Marquette University was one of seven teams from the Big East Conference to secure bids to the NCAA Tournament. With Charlotte getting snubbed, the Dayton Flyers were the lone representative of the A10. Dayton sent the Big East Runners-Up packing with a dramatic penalty kick shootout victory (4-3) to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history (first time since 2001). The Flyers improve to 16-0-6 while the Golden Eagles finish the season at 15-3-3.

In a match that showcased a little bit of everything, the opening whistle was fairly competitive for both sides. Each offense did its best to find open space along the touch lines, but both defenses were blessed with good speed to close the gaps and turn scoring opportunities away. The Flyers got forward by sending balls in the air to target forward Lauren MacCormick, while Marquette worked the ball on the ground. With Baujan Field’s playing surface continuing to show signs of wear after a long season, the normally easy stuff on the turf became more difficult to control at times.

Marquette slowly took ownership of the possession game, but it was not a dominant share — merely enough to steer the match at a pace of their choosing. While they got forward more easily than the Flyers, UD had chances of their own. Unable to convert on loose balls in the box however, the match remained scoreless.

The last 30 minutes of the first half were highly competitive. Dayton did a nice job of getting to loose balls to disrupt Marquette’s play, while goalkeeper Katherine Boone did a fantastic job of exiting her goal mouth to snatch up dangerous balls in the box.

Halftime stats favored UD 5-3 in shots while Marquette attempted the only corner kick.

The second half started fairly well for Dayton and all things seemed to indicate another competitive 45 minutes. That all changed with about 30 minutes left in regulation however as the Golden Eagles began dominating the midfield, gobbling up all of the free kicks, loose balls, and 50/50 challenges in the air. The Flyers hit a wall and lost their legs. They had to settle into a defensive posture and weather a significant onslaught of pressure by the Golden Eagles. Making matters worse, UD had trouble finding quality distance on their goal kicks, allowing MU to pick off most of them and turn the ball around for more pressure. What the Flyers did do was avoid panicking. It was obvious they were gassed and not in good form, but the back line made up for the mids and forwards lack of energy by remaining tough and timely every time they needed to.

Kathleen Beljan was dynamite all match along the left flank, while Allison Giner was in typical under-appreciated form on the right. Together, they ran down all of the foot races and made Marquette’s service in the box anything but ideal. The Golden Eagles did get the ball in the box however as the consistent pressure continued. Boone was huge inside her 18 and out-raced MU strikers to many of those balls. On Marquette corner kicks, the Flyers did just enough to put the ball out of danger.

Ironically, UD’s offense had the best scoring chances of the night in spite of fewer looks. The referee swallowed his whistle on an obvious Marquette hand ball in the penalty box that was in a dangerous place and with a UD player attacking toward the net. Marquette was fortunate. A little later, perfect service in the box found two Flyers running directly on an open goal from six yards out, but neither player could get a boot on the cross.

With 10 minutes to play, the Flyers tattooed a free kick from 25 yards out along the right side that struck the near post. With the MU wall and goalkeeper completely SOL, Dayton was just inches away from taking the 1-0 lead late in the game. Dayton also had a corner kick with under 30 seconds to play but couldn’t convert.

Given, Marquette’s dominating second half for large stretches, the body language of UD would have to change in extra time. First and foremost, the Flyers needed to re-dedicate themselves to the midfield and digging out loose balls. Dayton was in better form to start the first overtime, and that continued to trend upward as play resumed in the second OT. Mike Tucker’s squad nearly found the net with four minutes remaining in the final overtime but a loose ball 6 yards out was turned away by the Golden Eagles. Moments later time expired and penalty kicks would decide things.

Marquette outshot UD 11-5 in the second half and held a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Marquette had first dibs from 12 yards out and Boone came up with the biggest play of the evening by stoning the shot to put Dayton out in front of the shootout early on. Beljan was up first and knocked it home to put the Flyers up 1-0 with four kicks remaining. Cara Cornacchia missed wide right to level things at 2-2, but Boone stoned her second PK to once again put Dayton in the driver’s seat with two kickers remaining. Blumenschein made hers and Marquette converted their last PK to stay alive, leaving senior striker Mandi Back to finish the rotation and potentially send Dayton into the NCAA 2nd round. With more career goals and playing experience under her belt than any other Flyer, Back calmy approached the ball and slotted it home to send the Golden Eagles packing.

Marquette always fields a solid team with size, speed, and athleticism and this year’s squad was no different. Used to making the NCAA tournament nearly every year, they finished runner-up to national power Notre Dame in the Big East Tournament and were at-large selections to the NCAAs. The Flyers held their own however and while they lost their way for a large part of the second half, fatigue more than ability seemed to be the reason. Fans learned that UD soccer would compete extremely well in the Big East. Fellow A10 member Charlotte would as well.

Dayton won the match in much the same manner they won 16 others in 2009 — by hanging tough and never getting rattled. There were times when UD could have panicked and completely fallen apart, but even with their second half struggles, they refused to lose. Good teams love to win; great teams hate to lose. Fans saw that mentality all season and it was apparent once again Friday night in front of 1,083 rowdy and partisan Flyer fans.

Boone was exceptional the entire match and has instincts that are not coachable. She got her hands on nearly every Marquette PK and only her goal kicks failed her all evening. By saving the first PK and putting UD in the driver’s seat of the shootout, it put all of the pressure on Marquette — pressure that probably had as much to do with her second save as great goalkeeping.

Kelsey Miller kept the Iron Curtain organized in the back line. Colleen Williams did just enough in the offense to make the Golden Eagles see her as a legitimate threat off the dribble, while Back had moments in the first half where she made space offensively or tracked back to help re-claim possession.

After losing to Wisconsin 2-1 in overtime in South Bend, IN, in 2004 — a match the Flyers probably should have won — Friday night’s result is especially sweet for the program and Mike Tucker. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the program measuring stick was the amount of damage done in the NCAA Tournament; it was a given that UD would make the tourney. The climb back to the top has been slow and methodical, but entirely worth the wait to see a team like this return to the Big Dance and advance into the second round in front of fans that have invested just as much enthusiasm and support of the last several years. This year’s team has been largely ignored or forgotten altogether for much of the year. Only in the last couple weeks did national recognition finally catch up with their undefeated record. Friday night was another step forward in the women’s soccer program, a step most soccer fans outside of Dayton probably didn’t consider.

But that’s how this team seems to like it. The more critics doubt their chances, the more they find a way to prove them wrong. Sometimes unconventional, sometimes dramatic, but always persistent, the 2009 Dayton Flyers are now making believers out of doubters.

UD takes on Virginia Tech in the NCAA Second Round on Sunday afternoon at Baujan Field. Kickoff is 1pm.