Dayton will play old rival in first round of NCAA women’s soccer tournament

“They had a really good team this year,” Tucker said, “so it wouldn’t have been right for them to not get in. All credit to Rhode Island. They played great. But I’m so happy for (Dayton). I got to know a few of the girls, and they’re fantastic. This is what UD soccer is supposed to be about.”

Tucker took the program to the NCAA tournament 10 times in a tenure that stretched from 1995-2016. Now ninth-year coach Eric Golz will get his first chance.

The Flyers watched the NCAA tournament selection show together at the Frericks Center on Monday and learned they will play former A-10 rival Xavier, a No. 6 seed, in the first round at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Corcoran Field in Cincinnati.

Xavier (15-3-2) won the Big East championship on Sunday. Dayton leads the series against Xavier 26-10-4. The teams last played in 2019.

Dayton or Xavier will play No. 3 seed Colorado or Utah Valley in the second round.

Dayton (15-3-3), ranked 24th in the Top Drawer Soccer poll and 26th in the RPI, will take a 14-match winning streak, the third longest in school history, into the NCAA tournament.

“We’re obviously going to celebrate this win because it hasn’t been done in a while,” goalkeeper Batoul Reda said Sunday, “but after that, all focus will be the NCAA tournament. We’re hoping to go far.”

Dayton will make its 11th NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2016 when it lost 3-2 at Ohio State in the first round. It is 4-9-2 in the tournament.

Dayton last won a NCAA tournament game in 2010, 3-0 against Virginia Tech in Columbus. It advanced past the second round once, beating Maryland and Miami University before losing to UCLA.