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Dayton Gallops Past Cal Poly 3-1
Dayton Gallops Past Cal Poly 3-1
Christopher Rieman
Published by Chris R
08-21-2011
Dayton Gallops Past Cal Poly 3-1

DAYTON (OH) -- Despite a first half weather delay lasting 45 minutes, the Dayton Flyers overcame the elements and the Cal Poly-SLO Mustangs for a 3-1 victory in the home opener at Baujan Field. Colleen Williams scored twice in the first half, and Juliana Libertin added an insurance goal after intermission to pace the scoring. UD remains unbeaten at 2-0 while Cal Poly falls to 1-1.

The weather radar looked dandy an hour before the first home match of the season, but 15 minutes after kickoff the sky exploded with a fury of sideways rain, lightning, and tropical storm winds that forced players, coaches, and fans to run for shelter. The nasty stuff hung around for nearly 30 minutes and when played resumed with the match still scoreless, Baujan Field was a wet sponge to play on.

Thankfully, the best part of the first half came directly after the re-start. In the first 15 minutes before the weather delay, play was sloppy by both teams as neither side solved the first-touch yips. While UD looked like the deeper and more talented side, the play lacked urgency until junior Colleen Williams threw caution to the wind and called her own number from 25 yards out in the 25th minute. Her well-struck blast found the upper corner of the net to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead, but more importantly, breathing room to settle down and play to their style and team strengths.

The latter 20 minutes of the half consisted of more back and forth play, but UD looked more organized offensively. Dayton had their share of problems defending on the wings and clearing balls away however, giving Cal Poly several chances near the box to find an equalizer. While that didn't happen, the absence of All-American candidate Kathleen Beljan in the back line was hard to overlook. UD rotated several players in to shore up the perimeter D and find a permanent answer, but it was ultimately a match-long struggle.

To their credit, UD remained steadfast and once again made the most of their scoring opportunities. A confidence-killer for Cal Poly came in the last minute of the first half when freshman Kelsey Smigel faked an inside dribble and turned her posture back toward the end line, opening up all kinds of space for a cross in the box. A couple touches later, Smigel served up a perfect chip to an awaiting Williams all alone from six yards out. Williams polished home the header to put the Flyers up 2-0, taking the wind out of Cal Poly's sails.

While the Mustangs outshot UD 8-6 and held a 4-3 first half advantage in corner kicks, Dayton was on top where it counted (the scoreboard).

Cal Poly showed some urgency to start the second half and created several dangerous chances in their offensive third, once again capitalizing on UD's uncharacteristically dis-organized back line and midfield. The Mustangs pinged the crossbar on one occasion and had another chance cleared off the goal line by UD's Emily Kenyon. That wouldn't be the end of the Flyer close calls.

The middle part of the second half was probably UD's best 20 minutes of the match. Juliana Libertin made good runs at right forward while central midfielder Alexis Garcia stuck her nose into several tackles and loose balls to fight for possession. Not to be outdone, defender Meghan Scharer had at least three solid tackles that resulted in possession or free kicks. Smigel added further punch up top while Williams pushed bodies around as usual.

A much-needed insurance goal came in the 76th minute when Williams made a clever read on the Poly defense by taking a quick throw-in to Libertin along the left touch line. Libertin raced past her defender, cut inside, and finished off her 25yd run with a perfect strike inside the box from 12 yards out that left the Mustang keeper flat-footed. Terrific field observation by Williams and an even better piece of finishing by her teammate.

Up 3-0, UD put things on cruise control over the last 15 minutes of the match. The ease in posture allowed Cal Poly to assert themselves on offense and take over possession in the midfield. Already snake-bitten from hitting the post and having a ball cleared off the line, the Mustangs finally hit paydirt in the 82nd minute, beating the UD defense along the left baseline. A Cal Poly attacker served the ball to the six yard line that was easily put away by a teammate directly in front of goalkeeper Katherine Boone. It was a soft goal but based on missed scoring opportunities earlier in the match, perhaps poetic justice as well.

Cal Poly was jinxed on another shot that bounced off the left post after Boone charged from her goal mouth. UD cleared that one away from danger as well. Overall, the Flyers were out-shot 22-18.

The match was filled with a handful of highs and lows. Offensively, UD once again demonstrated a talent for finishing solid chances in the box. Smigel just missed on a great turn-and-shoot from 18yds out that scooted just wide of the far post. The Flyers also had a couple dangerous through-balls that resulted in one vs. ones with a defender.

As the match wore on in the second half however, UD seemed to lose their legs a bit -- especially in the midfield. The lack of possession in the middle put extra pressure on the Dayton back line to turn chances away as an out-numbered group. Cal Poly sensed UD losing their form and took advantage of the open space by carrying the ball forward with pace.

Without Beljan in the back to clean up all the garbage this weekend, the coaching staff should feel pretty good in spite of the peaks and valleys. The Flyers scored 10 goals this weekend in a variety of ways. On the other hand, they gave up three soft ringers. It's far too early to pass judgement on the defense however -- they should be back at full strength as early as next weekend. Given the absences and plethora of fresh faces seeing the field for the first time, it was a very successful weekend of soccer with far more positives to draw from.

Dayton buses to Evanston, IL, next weekend for a pair of matches against Loyola (IL) and host Northwestern.
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