This will be the final week of regular season play before the A-10 tournament kicks off and features the top six teams in the conference.

Dayton (15-3-0, 7-1-0 A-10) and Charlotte (13-4-0, 6-1-0 A-10) sit atop the standings and have already clinched a berth in the tournament.

Seven teams will fight for the final four playoff spots, as Duquesne, St. Bonaventure and Massachusetts will be the three, four and five seeds in some order, while the sixth seed will be fought over by La Salle, Fordham and long-shots George Washington and Xavier.

Last season Dayton, Charlotte, Fordham, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis and UMass made the A-10 tournament as the Flyers and 49ers faced off in the championship game for the second year in a row, with Dayton emerging victorious.

Flyers crack Top 25 before falling to Bonnies
Last Tuesday, Dayton re-entered Soccer America’s Top 25 for the third time this year. The Flyers moved into a three-way tie No. 25 with South Carolina and Georgia. However, Dayton will likely drop from the Top 25 thanks to a 2-1 loss against the Bonnies following Sunday.

The Bonnies (10-7-0, 4-3-0 A-10) shocked the Flyers, who were riding a 12 game winning streak and had just clinched their 15th-straight A-10 tournament appearance.

Despite the loss, the Flyers seemed poised to make another deep playoff run. They are guaranteed one of the top two spots in the playoffs, meaning that they will receive a first round bye in the tournament. The Flyers are led by forward sophomore Colleen Williams, who leads the conference in points scored (37), goals (14), assists (nine) and game-winning goals (six).

Dayton began the year ranked 20th in the nation, but a few early losses dropped them from the top 25.
The Soccer America Top 25 is the primary ranking system used in college soccer. The majority of teams included in the poll are D1 schools from power conferences.

POW, ROW announced
St. Bonaventure’s Anna Cunningham was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week, while teammate Taylor Broderick shared the Rookie of the Week award with UMass’ Brittany Moore.
Cunningham and Broderick led the Bonnies to two conference victories this week while strengthening their chances of reaching the conference tournament.

St. Bonaventure started the weekend with a 2-0 shutout of Xavier. Alyssa Lapp and Sarah Clarke scored the two goals with Courtney Bosse adding an assist.

Next, the Bonnies upset conference leader Dayton thanks to the combination of Broderick and Cunningham. Facing a 1-0 deficit, St. Bonaventure got the equalizer from Hannah Lapp who converted a penalty kick to tie the match.

Eight minutes later, Broderick fed Cunningham with a pass from 40 yards out into the box. Cunningham delivered the game-winner with a header that eluded the Flyers goalkeeper.

If the Bonnies can take care of business versus George Washington and Richmond this week, they will punch their ticket to the postseason.

UMass freshman Brittany Moore anchored the Minutewomen (7-9-9, 4-3-0 A-10) defense and added an assist as they went on to defeat Temple and Saint Joseph’s last week.

Massachusetts, who currently sits tied for fifth in the A-10 standings, wraps up its season against Fordham and La Salle this week.

Jackson Alexander can be reached at [email protected].