DAYTON, Ohio -- Whether it was on the field or during postgame interviews, the Virginia Tech women's soccer team was quick to strike Sunday.

The goals the Hokies scored in their 3-1 victory over Dayton at Baujan Field in the second round of the NCAA tournament required quick-footed reactions by junior Marika Gray and freshman Kelly Conheeney.

When Gray, Conheeney and goalkeeper Kristin Carden sat at the interview table they were just as quick to respond to what it was like to be part of the first Tech team to reach the round of 16.

"It's awesome," they said in unison. Then they laughed.

Tech (16-7) will play Portland (20-1), a 2-1 winner over Washington, next weekend in search of another awesome feeling. The Hokies will travel to Oregon. The game is Friday at 10 p.m.

Tech, which won its first NCAA game in program history Friday night here against Murray State, handed Dayton its first loss. The Flyers (16-1-6) had allowed only seven goals before Sunday, but the Hokies pressured the goal often and got some good bounces to help set up their scores.

Gray, a second-team All-ACC performer, scored twice and leads the team with 10 goals. Her first goal came 5:30 into the game when the ball bounced off a Dayton player in the box.

Dayton goalkeeper Katherine Boone was shielded by her defender in a miscommunication over who should take the ball and Gray was quick to take advantage of what amounted to a rebound for a 1-0 lead.

"It gave us a little bit more confidence just to kind of relax, play our game and stick to the plan," Gray said.

What Gray's goal also did was cause Dayton coach Mike Tucker to reconsider his plan of only keeping three defenders back in an effort to mount a stronger offensive attack. Gray's speed, strength and size was too much for Dayton's smallish defenders. Overall, Tech was the bigger team.

"We were aware of her and tried to make sure we had her covered, but it was like women against little girls in some cases," Tucker said.

Dayton did control play the last part of the first half, but missed chances to score then and had a few more in the second half as the Hokies built a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Tech's Robin Chidester got into a battle with a Dayton defender at the top of the box. Suddenly the ball popped out to Conheeney. Without hesitation she fired a shot past Boone for a 2-0 lead at the 59:24 mark.

Chidester contributed to the next goal when she passed to Gray in the box. Gray's first shot was stopped by Boone, but the rebound gave Gray an immediate second chance and an open goal in which to shoot.

"Those are not easy to finish sometimes when you look up and see an open goal," Tech coach Kelly Cagle said. "So it took concentration a couple times in opportunities that are actually a must-go-in, if that's a phrase, and she did a great job of burying those chances."

Dayton finally took advantage of one of its chances when Allison Giner scored at the 79:04 mark. But by then it was obvious that the Hokies were headed for another week of practice.

"Everybody's hanging on that cliff," Carden said. "Any game it can just be over. And we know that and we fight for it."