Dayton sophomore Martin Bakken scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who finished the season 14-3-3. Dayton won its second straight Atlantic 10 championship and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history.
“Congrats to SMU, they are a very good team and did a good job disrupting our attack and our possession,” Dayton coach Dennis Currier said. “I thought we had some really good moments that we just didn’t capitalize on.
“It’s been an amazing and historic season and these guys have laid a path for others to follow to get to the Sweet 16. I’m proud of this team and how well they’ve done winning nine or ten games in a row, capitalizing on back-to-back championships, and defeating some incredible opponents. The season overall was just such a success.”
Less than a minute into the match, Dayton sophomore Cooper Lijewski found Bakken, who beat the keeper to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.
In the 18th minute, Mustangs senior defender Kyran Chambron Pinho scored on a breakaway to tie the game. It was the first goal the Flyers had conceded in four matches.
The game was tied at the half. In the 65th minute, SMU senior forward Bailey Sparks scored on a penalty kick to give the Mustangs the lead for good.
Less than 10 minutes later, SMU junior defender Owen Zarnick scored an insurance goal off a Mustangs corner kick to make it 3-1. The Flyers chased the game in the waning moments — they had eight shots in the second half — but were unable to beat SMU junior keeper Martin Dominguez, who finished with three saves.
Senior goalkeeper Dario Caetano had four saves for the Flyers. SMU had eight corner kicks in the match, while the Flyers had six.
SMU improved to 12-2-6 and will host No. 13 Marshall in an Elite Eight match next weekend with a trip to NCAA Men’s College Cup semifinals on the line.
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