Share
The Dayton Flyers made a big shot, then survived the Charlotte 49ers' last, best one to take a 2-1 victory in the Atlantic 10 women's soccer tournament championship Sunday at TransAmerica Field.
Jerica DeWolfe rocketed a 35-yard shot into the top left corner of the goal with 3 minutes, 13 seconds left to send the No. 24 Flyers (16-0-5) to the NCAA tournament and break Charlotte's two-year hold on the conference championship.
Dayton, the top seed in the league tournament, had to survive a frantic last 10 seconds to get there.
On their last possession, the 49ers (16-3-2) just missed a tying goal when Megan Minnix's hard shot from about 20 yards bounced off the crossbar. Charlotte's Sam Huecker had an open net in front of her on the rebound, but shot over the goal from inside the 6-yard box as time ran out.
"It was all just a blur," Huecker said. "The goalie deflected it, it went off the crossbar and I just tried to put it back in. We couldn't put it away in front of the goal."
The razor-close finish was an appropriate end. Until the final dramatic minutes, the only goals of the game were scored about a minute apart in the first half.
No. 2-seeded Charlotte scored the opening goal in the 18th minute. Kirby Stenard scored on a header from about 15 yards in front of the goal, finishing a cross from the right side by Minnix.
But Dayton re-tied the game 1:07 later when Colleen Williams netted a shot from just inside the 18-yard box into the right corner.
"We were two evenly matched teams," 49ers coach John Cullen said. "It took a very good goal to separate us. But we had our chances, too."
From the equalizing goal until the end, the 49ers could look back on several lost opportunities to go back out in front.
The loss snapped a 28-game unbeaten streak in A-10 play for the 49ers, who must wait until tonight to find out if they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
"This is our first defeat in 15 games (a 14-0-1 streak going into the championship game), so it's not like we're limping to the finish line," Cullen said. "I hope they look at that and see us getting to the championship game as an indicator of how good a team we are."
49ERS MEN FALL AT TEMPLE: No. 15th Charlotte (11-3-4, 5-2-2) lost 2-1 at Temple (9-7-2, 4-4-1) in Atlantic 10 men's soccer regular-season finale. Evan James scored for the 49ers who will be the fifth seed in the A-10 tournament Thursday at Rhode Island.
