web Charlotte

Nov. 8, 2009

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A shot from Dayton’s Jerica DeWolfe in the 87th minute separated the Flyers from a 1-1 tie with the Charlotte 49ers in the Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Championship Final to lift Dayton to a 2-1 victory and their sixth A-10 title in program history. The Flyers rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two unanswered goals to defeat the two-time defending A-10 tournament champions, 49ers.

The game was an epic battle between the two top teams in the Atlantic 10 with Dayton and Charlotte finishing one-two in regular season play and combining for 11 of the last 12 A-10 regular season crowns.

“This was a great game between two amazing teams and it turned into a hard-fought A-10 classic,” stated Charlotte head coach John Cullen. “At the end of the day it took one fantastic shot to separate two great teams.”

The 49ers held the shot advantage over the Flyers in the game, 19-14, but were unable to put away two last-second efforts from Megan Minnix and Sam Huecker. Minnix’s shot careened off the crossbar and bounced outwards to Huecker whose shot sailed just over the crossbar as time expired giving Dayton the 2009 title.

“Our last chance was mostly a blur to me I just saw Megan (Minnix) cross it into the box and went off the crossbar before their keeper deflected it,” described Huecker. “The ball came to me but I was unable to put it away.”

Charlotte opened the scoring in the 19th minute with Kirby Stenard heading in an Oni Bernard cross near the goal line. Minnix delivered the ball to Bernard before the sophomore forward centered it to Stenard, who scored her 8th goal of the season on the play.

Dayton bounced back from the early goal by answering 67 seconds later from a Colleen Williams shot inside Charlotte’s penalty area into the right corner. Mandi Back was credited with the assist as Williams picked up her 7th goal of the season.

The game took a dramatic turn when Charlotte was awarded a penalty kick after Bernard was tripped on a breakaway by Kelly Blumenschein in the 23rd minute. Niner midfielder Hailey Beam stepped up to take the kick, but missed the opportunity as her attempt went wide left off the goal.

Charlotte had another chance late in the second half, but the goal was disallowed due to a Charlotte player being in an offside position.

DeWolfe’s decisive shot in the 87th minute kept Dayton’s undefeated season intact and propelled the Flyers to an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The loss was Charlotte’s first since September 13 and first against an Atlantic 10 opponent since the 2007 season. The 49ers will now have to hope that the NCAA Committee will award them an at-large bid to their third consecutive tournament.

“It was out first defeat in over 14 games and we finished strong in the months of October and November and had a great run of games lately,” Cullen stated of his team’s chances at the NCAA tournament. “Hopefully they realize that we haven’t lost on the road this season and we are playing well enough to deserve a spot in the tournament.”

MVP - Cara Cornacchia, Dayton
 
All-Championship Team
Sydney Stoll - Massachusetts
Kelly Waeckerle - Saint Louis
Anna Cunningham - St. Bonaventure
Nicole Markert - St. Bonaventure
Katie McDermott - Fordham
Leah Loguidice - Fordham
India Winford - Charlotte
Oni Bernard - Charlotte
Kathleen Beljan - Dayton
Mandi Back - Dayton
Cara Cornacchia - Dayton