Dayton men’s soccer upsets nation’s No. 1 team

Flyers score first four goals in 5-1 victory against West Virginia
Dayton men's soccer coach Dennis Currier watches the team practice before the 2024 season. Photo courtesy of the University of Dayton

Dayton men's soccer coach Dennis Currier watches the team practice before the 2024 season. Photo courtesy of the University of Dayton
Sports
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Oct 16, 2024
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The Dayton Flyers men’s soccer team made history Tuesday night by beating West Virginia 5-1 at Baujan Field, upsetting the nation’s No. 1 team for the first time in program history.

“We talked before the game that we had an opportunity for a historical win,” UD coach Dennis Currier said in a press release. “We came off a tough loss (4-2 to Fordham in Dayton) and I thought the guys’ performance tonight was tremendous. We were on the front foot through the entire game. To put five goals against an amazing team was just incredible for our fans and all the players.”

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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David Jablonski covers the Dayton Flyers and other sports for the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal News.