ROUND ROCK, Texas – Jake Meyer ripped a shot into the top of the net from eight yards out off a dish from Kyle Collett with 2:52 left in overtime to give Dayton a 6-5 victory over St. Thomas and the Division II title at the 2023 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance on Friday night at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.

It is the second national championship for the Flyers and the first since 2015.

The lack of an extra day of rest seemed to be apparent early on in this one. The two teams could not break the code for most of the first quarter until Pat Shanahan took a feed from Matthew Skiscim and ripped one from the left side to get Dayton (13-5) on the board.

Two minutes into the second quarter, the Flyers doubled their lead when Matt Cesario connected for the 2-0 bulge.

After 23:25 of action, St. Thomas (14-3) finally solved Tucker Hoffmann as Jack Stone dodged from the right side and connected to trim the lead to 2-1.

Jake Meyer scored 2:03 into the third quarter and Gavin Ward went upper deck to push Dayton’s edge to 4-1.

Still leading 5-2 early in the fourth quarter thanks to an alley dodge from Andrew Galle, Dayton saw the Tommies punch back.

It started with Jack Stone burying a shot from up top followed by a Garret Hoch goal with 4:15 left in the game. Both goals were assisted by Cam Gelling. Just under two minutes later, Gelling got one of his own – with a dish from Stone – to tie the game on an inside roll with 2:46 left in the contest.

St. Thomas grabbed the first possession in overtime, but could not convert, setting up Meyer’s bomb into the upper right corner for the championship marker.

Meyer finished with a pair of goals while Skiscim doled out two assists. Tucker Hoffmann was sublime, finished with 14 saves for the victory.

Stone finished with two goals for the Tommies while Gelling was the top assist man. Gunner Arens was outstanding in the loss, turning away 17 shots.