Dayton Flyers win Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer tournament for first time since 2015

The Dayton Flyers claimed an unexpected Atlantic 10 Conference men’s soccer tournament championship Sunday, winning the title as a the No. 6 seed with a 2-1 victory against No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth on VCU’s home field in Richmond, Va.

“It’s just summiting the peak here at the end of the season,” coach Dennis Currier said. “It’s probably one of the most adverse seasons we had to go through.”

Dayton (8-6-6) started the season 2-6-1 and didn’t clinch an A-10 tournament berth until the last game of the regular season on Oct. 28 when it beat Massachusetts 3-1 at Baujan Field. It was 3-1-4 in the A-10 regular season.

In the A-10 tournament, Dayton won three road games in three states. It beat No. 3 seed Loyola Chicago 5-4 on penalty kicks on Nov. 4 in a game that was tied 2-2 through regulation and overtime.

On Wednesday, the Flyers won 3-1 at No. 2 seed Davidson. It then beat VCU, a team it tied 1-1 on Oct. 4 in Richmond, for its first A-10 tournament championship in eight years.

“Every game, you grow in confidence,” Currier said, “and you grow through bonding. You would prefer to be at home, but we knew we most likely had to win the A-10 through road games.”

This is Dayton’s fifth championship. It also won the tournament title in 1997, 1998, 2008 and 2015. VCU (7-6-5) was seeking its first championship.

Dayton trailed 1-0 when senior midfielder Kenji Mboma Dem, who played the last three seasons at Omaha, scored the tying goal in the 68th minute. Midfielder Hjalti Sigurdsson, a graduate student from Iceland, scored the game-winning goal on a header with 1:16 left.

“The first goal was so important because we had so many chances,” Currier said. “I think we hit the post four or five times today. You’re like, ‘When’s it going to come?’ I’ve been coaching for so long. You see those games where you just never get that first goal. So we got the first goal, and you started to feel a little bit better. We kept applying the pressure and playing on our foot front the entire time. I really felt like we’re going to score.”

The Flyers will play in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015 and will learn their opponent and destination on Monday. The selection show starts at 1 p.m. and airs on NCAA.com.

Explore» EARLIER COVERAGE: Dayton starts season with new faces but same goals

In other UD news:

* The Dayton volleyball team completed an 18-0 season in the A-10 with 3-0 victories Friday and Saturday against VCU at the Frericks Center. Dayton (29-2) has won 24 matches in a row.

Dayton has the No. 1 seed in the A-10 tournament and will play No. 4 Davidson or No. 5 Saint Louis in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Davidson.