MORGANTOWN (WV) — The Dayton Flyers saw their season come to a close Friday evening in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, falling 3-2 to the high-powered Virginia Cavaliers before 216 fans — a majority of them Flyer supporters — at the Mountaineer Soccer Complex. Dayton finishes the season at 17-4 while Virginia improves to 12-6-2 and will take on host West Virginia in the round of 32 Sunday afternoon. Friday’s loss by the Flyers marks the first time in school history they’ve failed to advance to the second round. Just a year ago, Dayton upset Maryland and beat Miami (OH) on the same field to advance to the Sweet 16.

As kickoff approached, it was imperative for Dayton to get off to a good start. Playing from behind early in the match would threaten UD’s chances for an upset and allow the Wahoos to taste blood and crave some more. But Dayton did get off to a good start and Virginia soon realized the match wouldn’t be an opportunity to mail it in against an Atlantic-10 opponent. Perhaps they already knew that in light of their in-season tie to A-10 foe Richmond, but UVA dominated that match in spite of the score. After the first five minutes Friday afternoon, Dayton proved they could play with the 2nd place team in the ACC and quite possibly pull off the upset.

The Flyers generated a pair of quality scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the game by threading a couple balls through the middle of the field to players heading toward goal. Senior Liz Brown had a one-on-one breakaway with Cav GK Anne Abernathy in the early going, but Virginia pursuit caught up with her before she could get anything more than a toe-poke on the shot. Dayton eventually earned a corner kick as well but couldn’t convert it into a score.

On the other side of the field, Virginia countered with their own potent offense, an offense that used their foot skill advantage to dribble past Dayton players and find teammates on overlaps down the wings. The Cavs employed an offense that preferred to bring the ball up the middle, then dish to the corner flags as they approached the box. Players would then crash the box and await a cross from the side. As expected, Virginia moved the ball around with ease at times, but at other times Dayton proved extremely annoying. Great hustle in the middle of the field by Tesia Kozlowski, Laura Boland, and others, knocked balls away on Virginia counters, giving UD a chance to recover defensively or counterattack altogether.

With hustle in the midfield paying off, Virginia couldn’t sustain stretches of great play. The Cavs would put together two or three minutes of impressive soccer, but the Flyers would hold their ground, remain patient, and pick their opportunities to steal a pass, win a throw-in, or force Virginia into a mistake.

Virginia had several strong scoring chances in the first half and worked the right sidelines for a handful of crosses in the box. Fortunately, Dayton managed to either clear them away or defer to the hands of Steph Weisenfeld. The Flyer coaching staff flipped freshmen Jacqueline Luehrs and sophomore Leah Phelps in the back line in response to the baseline crosses, and the more experienced Phelps made an immediate impact on the left side.

With 35 minutes gone in the first half, Dayton was in position to earn a halftime tie — a big confidence boost should they withstand the pressure and hold the Wahoos scoreless. The Flyers got what they wanted, in large part due to the play of sophomore stopper Jen Simonetti. Simonetti won nearly every high ball in the defensive third of the field and is one of the few players on the team perfectly suited to a physical style of play so often seen by teams in the ACC. Head balls aside, she also picked off many balls on the ground and made several Virginia players look less talented than their high school credentials might indicate. With the score deadlocked at 0-0 at intermission, UD was in a great position to win the game in the second half. Virginia held a 12-4 advantage in shots and a 2-1 edge in corner kicks in the first 45 minutes. A couple scoring chances were extremely dangerous and Virginia had the better of the play, but the Flyers were in no way dominated. The match was competitive in both directions and while UVA was more flashy and exciting, UD was blue collar. The officials let the teams play and Virginia used their arms and hands to grab, push, and tug at the Flyers — fouls usually called in the A-10 but not at this level. An uncalled Virginia hand ball didn’t help things but the Flyers were in good position nonetheless to start the second half.

The Wahoos started out very well in the second half and Dayton required several strong defensive stops to keep the game scoreless. UD had a tougher time moving the ball forward, but sophomore Tesia Kozlowski stepped up her game and started dominating in the midfield once the was at her feet. While she couldn’t beat every Virginia midfielder, she had success taking on two or three at a time, and used her tall frame to keep Wahoo players from pushing her off the ball. Once she collected a pass and turned a corner, she tore up field on many occasions and did her best to distribute to her teammates. Kozlowski had several brilliant moves during ther course of the game and looked every bit like a college star in a match full of college stars.

Dayton got on the scoreboard first with an incredible shot by junior Beth McHugh. Katie Lowstuter lofted a ball up field and McHugh tracked it down as Cav GK Anne Abernathy approached. McHugh volleyed it off the bounce from 20yds out as the two met up and buried the ball into the back corner of the net. The celebration followed and with a 1-0 Dayton lead, everything looked golden for a Flyer win — somewhat reminiscent of Dayton’s NCAA 1st Round victory over Maryland a year ago on the same field, though this time Dayton was playing much better. Perhaps a letdown followed or perhaps UD awakened a sleeping giant, but as quickly as Dayton took the lead, Virginia countered and took control of the match.

Looking like they needed to step up their own game, Virginia turned up the heat just minutes after McHugh’s goal and tied the match at 1-1 just two minutes later when Sarah Huffman buried a shot from 30yds out that snuck past the outstretched arms of Weisenfeld, hitting the bottom of the left post and bouncing in. Four minutes later, Darci Borski gave Virginia a 2-1 lead when she juked and jived past three Dayton defenders and followed it up with a shot to the right corner. The Cavalier talent was now taking over and Dayton did its best to hold on, but there’s only so much the Flyers could do until Virginia’s heralded players started making plays. With nearly every player an NSCAA or Parade HS All American, the Cavs appeared to strengthen a bit as the game wore on, and cashed in with their third goal in the 65th minute by Lindsay Gusick to take a 3-1 lead. Virginia, who nabbed the top recruiting class two years ago and the #3 class last year, played 17 players — 11 of those freshmen or sophomores. Perhaps only North Carolina has more raw talent than what the Flyers were up against, but Dayton never threw in the towel and continued to give them a tough game despite the deficit.

Kozlowski trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the 87th minute on a bullet from 35yds out that hit Abernathy right in the hands — however it was struck so hard it knocked her over and the ball’s momentum carried it into the net. UD tried to find the tying goal, but time was their enemy and the match came to a close.

Looking back, the Flyers would like to replay the ten minutes after McHugh’s goal that gave Dayton the lead. The Flyers proved to be incredibly tough to beat after scoring the first goal this year and with a defense like theirs, things looked so promising. But credit must also go to Virginia as they stepped up their game and began making plays. While the stats show UVA outshot UD 21-11 and earned a 5-1 edge in corner kicks, the match was closer than that. Virginia outshot Dayton just 9-7 in the second half despite scoring three times and Weisenfeld had eight saves to Abernathy’s five. Kozlowski had the best match of her career and showed fans that Dayton isn’t without its own talented former high school All Americans. Simonetti was equally dominant and proved to be a major pain in Virginia’s game plan while Erin Showalter had an extremely clean game at sweeper. Leah Phelps proved herself as well, along with nearly everyone who played. Without question, three or four of UD’s players proved better than their opposing mark all afternoon while the rest of the team put forth perhaps the best effort of the year — right up there with the Michigan State victory. It can’t be said enough times that Virginia possesses arguably the most talented freshmen and sophomore classes in the entire country — even better than North Carolina’s. Many of those players went toe-to-toe with Dayton and proved to be better players, but far less than their credentials would suggest. That’s a great compliment to the Flyer coaching staff and the players they are able to bring in to the program, players good enough to slug it out with countless Parade All Americans and prove to be good enough to win on any given night.

And that’s where we leave things for now. That night will come soon enough because the Flyers host this same Virginia squad next season at Baujan Field, a match certain to draw a record crowd. Dayton ends the season at 17-4 and shared the A-10 title — their fifth outright or shared title in a row. The 17 wins is also a regular season record and though it came against a schedule somewhat easier than years past, the Flyers RPI of 34 as of this writing is the highest in school history. Next year should be more difficult as most of the marquee conference games are on the road. Non-conference matches with Virginia, St. Mary’s (CA), and possibly Clemson mean UD has a chance to earn some early respect (or lose it). The coaching staff’s job is bring in a couple more studs who can contribute immediately. Replacing this year’s senior class will prove difficult, but the program is at a point where replacing seniors is no longer an excuse for anything. To compete at the top level, programs must reload — not rebuild. Provided the returning players and newcomers accept the challenge to meet yearly Flyer expectations, 2003 should yield another postseason team.