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Flyers Shove Their Way Past Rhody 3-1
Flyers Shove Their Way Past Rhody 3-1
Christopher Rieman
Published by Chris R
10-08-2010
Flyers Shove Their Way Past Rhody 3-1

DAYTON (OH) -- The Rhode Island Rams tried to counter a shortcoming in skills with more physical play. It worked for a half but the Dayton Flyers pulled away with two goals in the second half to break a halftime tie and improve to 11-2-0 (3-0-0). The Rams fall to 1-9-1 (1-2-0).

Fans knew it was only a matter of time before an opponent would play the 'ol Box-And-One on sophomore goal-scoring machine Colleen Williams and force others to do the damage. As the opening whistle blew, Rhody put a defensive mark on Williams and shadowed her all evening -- even to the restroom. The pushing and shoving started early and often as the Rams tried to throw Willy off her game, but UD did a terrific job in the opening 15 minutes of knocking the ball around and forcing URI to foul.

While the run of play was physical and elbows to the chops were the order of business at times, the Flyers worked the ball on the ground and made the most of URI's insistence on cheating on Williams defensively.

Chief architect of the solid play was senior midfielder Jerica DeWolfe who did a commendable job of switching possession to the weak side to exploit the open grass.

Dayton got forward and threw several balls in the box. They also earned several corner kicks that offered equally strong service and a chance to score first, but Rhody -- to their credit -- played tough-minded and were not intimidated by UD's winning reputation.

It wasn't easy, but Dayton's persistence finally paid off in the 15th minute when Tori Oelschlager and Juliana Libertin teamed up on the right side and placed a strong cross in the box for Jerica DeWolfe. DeWolfe was open because Williams and her shadow trailed behind the play at the far post, but the defender marking Williams refused to stray away and challenge the cross in front of her. DeWolfe finished things off for the early 1-0 Flyer lead. URI's insistence on face-guarding Williams back-fired.

Unfortunately, UD's back line gave up the lead just a minute later after several poor clears turned into a Kaylen Shimoda goal in the lower left corner of the net to tie the match at 1-1. Goalkeeper Lisa Rodgers was mostly helpless on the play and suddenly the match was interesting again.

Over the next 25 minutes, the Flyer midfield and offense continued to play at a high level however. Players knocked the ball around and communicated very well as UD dominated the possession. Once again, the midfield shined. Putting balls in areas of the field where teammates could move forward with good place, the mids identified the gaps, served well-weighted balls, and continued to exploit URI's Box-and-One on Williams ahead of them.

UD's weak spot over the remainder of the first half was once again (and uncharacteristically) in the back. Dayton's defenders did a poor of job judging balls in the air and let Rhode Island forwards get behind them with an intent to attack directly on goal. The Rams showcased very good speed up top and perhaps the wheels surprised UD after playing a half dozen matches against opponents that were a step slow. Combined with physical play, URI created several good scoring chances of their own -- including a header directly in front of Rodgers that hit her in the bread basket.

Halftime stats were in favor of UD (13-4 in shots, 4-1 in corners).

Rhode Island didn't change their approach to start the second half. Looking to knock Williams around as much they could, others joined the fray and took an opportunity to rattle other Dayton players as well. The bump-and-grind approach kept URI in the match for a while and did just enough at times to frustrate UD when they tried to play quickly.

Six minutes after the re-start however, Williams finally got loose with a ball over the top of the Rhody back line. Headed toward goal with two defenders behind her and only the goalkeeper to beat, she was taken down with a forearm shove to the back that resulted in a penalty kick. Kelly Blumenschein had the honor and tucked it away for the 2-1 lead.

Dayton had more good possession as the second half continued and did a lot of good things between the 18s. The back line continued to struggle with clears however and that gave the Rams just enough chances to hang their hopes on another Flyer mistake to tie the match a second time. Fortunately, that never happened.

Williams helped make it 3-1 in the 63rd minute on a nifty re-direct through the Rhode Island back line after faking a back-pass toward midfield and suckering the defense forward. Alexis Garcia took the through-ball and attacked the goalkeeper from the left side. She chipped the keeper with a top-class finish to the far post to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead.

Up two goals, things were basically decided the both teams knew it. Rhody had an honest chance to skip town with a well-earned tie, but didn't have the firepower to add two second half goals to make it happen. Garcia's finish effectively put the game out of reach.

The last 25 minutes of the match were physical as URI fouled, fouled, and fouled again. It was the best strategy they had to keep the match somewhat competitive, but after a while it began to wear on the crowd. By the end of the match, the Rams earned 24 fouls to just nine for Dayton -- which should come as no surprise considering URI leads the A10 in fouls per game and yellow cards.

Final stats were all Dayton with a 21-10 advantage in shots and 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

Overall, Dayton played well and did so against an opponent that threw as much physical play at them as any team since Ohio State. While it was physical and some of the fans at Baujan Field felt it bordered on unsportsmanlike, credit goes to URI for playing much better than their record indicated. Judging by their showing Friday evening, they are much too talented to be a one-win team.

Dayton, for the most part, didn't lose their cool. The referee let both teams play and didn't allow a short whistle to turn things into a powderpuff soccer match. Most of the fouls he did call were well-earned, though it remains inexplicable that no booking was issued for the take-down of Colleen Williams in the penalty box that resulted in the PK. It's usually a straight red card for take-downs from behind when the attacking player is unimpeded toward the net with only the goalkeeper to beat -- especially inside the box. Still, fans in attendance took too much credit away from URI's gutty effort by voicing their opinion on every physical tackle. This is soccer, not tiddlywinks.

DeWolfe had perhaps her best game of the season with her midfield distribution. While Williams did not score, she was directly or indirectly responsible for all three Flyer goals. So much for the Box-and-One. Credit also goes to her teammates for finishing chances.

It was a bad night at the office for the defense, but the reliable crew in the back should bounce back from it.

The Flyers finish off the home portion of the schedule on Sunday afternoon with a 1pm match against UMass.
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