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UD Hands Kentucky First Loss of Season, 2-1
UD Hands Kentucky First Loss of Season, 2-1
Christopher Rieman
Published by Chris R
09-17-2011
UD Hands Kentucky First Loss of Season, 2-1

DAYTON (OH) -- It was a beginning even Simon Cowell would appreciate.

Moments before kickoff Saturday evening at Baujan Field, the PA System croaked while announcing the UD starting lineup. No problem. The Flyer players finished announcing their own squad form the bench, then started the Star Spangled Banner that 1,145 fans backed them up on. Repaying the favor, the #24 Flyers backed up their singing talent with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over previously-unbeaten Kentucky. Dayton improves to 8-1-0 while Kentucky falls to 7-1-0.

Up against a Wildcat squad currently receiving votes in the NSCAA Top-25, Dayton wasted no time getting scrappy, despite giving up some size to the larger players from the SEC. What UD lacked in height, they made up for in speed and work rate -- especially in the midfield where loose balls were fought for (and ultimately won).

In fact, the first 20 minutes were the best soccer all season as Dayton knocked the ball around to control a major chunk of the run of play. Counter-attacks were favorable for UD as they transitioned from defense to offense and caught Kentucky on their heels in the UK defensive half of the field.

Whether working inside or on the flanks, UD received contributions all around. Senior Alexis Garcia had her best game of the season occupying the midfield. She did a great job of winning 50/50 balls, distributing to teammates, and switching the offense to the weak side with nifty spins and mis-directions.

Alysha Mallon, part-time defender and part-time attacking player, set the tone on the flanks with an unflappable work rate over the first 25 minutes. Digging balls out with great hustle and persistence, Mallon jump-started the Flyer offense and put pressure on the Wildcat back line.

Kentucky wasn't a pushover however and their brand of soccer was at a quality level as well. Their strikers were as large in size as any opponent all season, making interesting matchups for the UD defense -- especially the pint-sized spark plug Kathleen Beljan. While Beljan gave up six inches, she made up for it with some of her best soccer of 2011, and looked much healthier than a week ago. After suffering an MCL strain at the beginning of the season, she's now running without a knee brace.

The great effort by the Flyers resulted in several quality scoring chances, but the first one to count came on a corner kick/header from Mallon to Josie Grant at the near post for the 1-0 Dayton lead in the 31st minute.

The Flyers had 2-3 more excellent scoring chances in the first half, including a shot by Grant to an open net that just missed wide at the far post, and a one vs. one by Colleen Williams and UK goalkeeper Kayla Price that was snuffed out by an incredible sliding save away from the goal mouth.

UD led 1-0 at halftime and owned a 9-2 lead in shots on goal and 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.

The first 5-10 minutes of the second half were fairly strong, but the Flyers seemed to lose steam as the play continued. Whether the UD defense bunkered or were forced into a defensive posture by better play of the Wildcats, the resulting soccer put Kentucky in a great position to pressure the Flyer offensive half.

Dayton caught a break in the 50th minute however when a handball in the box gave Juliana Libertin a PK to put UD up 2-0.

Things were looking pretty good, but the sharpness of the first half never again materialized. The Flyers continued to hustle at a high level, but the details were lacking in most areas of the field, allowing UK to get forward and place balls in the box. What didn't result in shots directly on goal resulted in corner kicks and Dayton was forced to defend a bevy of free kicks inside their own 18 yard line.

UD's main bugaboo of the second half was finding extended possession and playing heads-up soccer. On many occasions, early balls would have sprung the Flyer attacking players into free space and a chance to challenge directly on goal. Late-played balls and avoiding the weak side of the field kept the Flyers from looking their best and putting the match completely out of reach.

To Kentucky's credit, they never stopped battling and forced UD goalkeeper Katherine Boone to come up big on a couple of occasions directly in front of the net. Numerous handballs by both teams were the main dish all evening, and one inside the Flyer box gave back a PK that cut the lead to 2-1 in the 86th minute.

Kentucky kept pressing Dayton over the final four minutes, but UD did just enough to preserve the hard-fought victory.

Match stats underscore Kentucky's second half surge as the Wildcats outshot UD 10-4 in the final 45 minutes -- including a decisive 8-1 advantage in corner kicks. It was a competitive match played at an entertaining level.

It was also a team effort from start to finish. Besides Mallon and Garcia standing out, defender Emily Kenyon played a great match all evening. Kenyon cleaned up balls in the back with big clears, chased down defenders, and took charge on goal kicks in the second half. Beljan was strong in the back as well, while Juliana Libertin got a lot accomplished as a wide attacking player stretching the field.

Colleen Williams served up some great passes to teammates running at the net, held possession, and hit the cross-bar in the first half after tattooing a shot from just inside the left corner of the box.

There's a lot to be happy about and the result caps a great two weeks where the Flyers notched wins over three teams ranked or receiving votes in the Top-25 (Kansas, Ohio State, Kentucky). While the second half wasn't nearly as good as the first 45 minutes and UD failed to convert on great scoring chances that could have put the match completely out of reach, the work rate and effort by the team is much stronger than the one fans saw in the 3-1 loss to Wisconsin.

Dayton remains at home for the A10 opener next Friday against Xavier.
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