The Mountaineers (8-1-3) suffered their first loss. They started the season ranked fourth and moved to No. 1 in the second poll on Sept. 3 before dropping to No. 5, No. 6 and then No. 7 only to climb again to No. 4 and now No. 1.
West Virginia finished 17-3-4 last season and ranked third in the final poll. It returned eight starters.
Dayton (6-2-3) improved to 1-1 in its history in games against No. 1 teams. It lost 1-0 to No. 1 Southern Methodist on Sept. 17, 2006, in Albuquerque, N.M.
Goals by senior Joseph Melto Quiah, sophomore Martin Bakken and freshman Felix Buabeng gave Dayton a 3-0 lead at halftime. The Flyers led 4-0 when Melto Quiah converted a penalty kick early in the second half.
West Virginia scored its first goal in the 67th minute.
Sophomore Cooper Lijewski added a fifth goal for Dayton in the 84th minute.
Dayton improved to 3-4 against West Virginia. The Mountaineers were No. 2 a year ago when the Flyers lost 1-0. In 2022, Dayton beat WVU 2-1. The teams have played every season since 2017, except the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
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