Flyers Fall to Ohio State 2-1

A late goal by Nicole Waters with three minutes left cut the deficit in half, but the Dayton Flyers ran out of time as the Ohio State Buckeyes prevailed 2-1 Thursday evening in the home opener at Baujan Field. A capacity crowd of 2,102 fans saw UD and OSU fight to a scoreless draw in the first half, but the Bucks scored early in the second half and added another to put UD in second-half trouble. Dayton falls to 0-3-0 on the year while #18 OSU improves to 3-0-0.

The crowd filed in early and a cloudy sky gave way to sunshine as the opening kickoff approached. The Buckeyes, fresh off a victory over #8 Florida, came out of the gates strong and established early ball possession while the Flyers looked to counter. Dayton's first counter almost hit paydirt as Nicole Waters uncorked a shot that slid just wide of the far left goalpost. The Bucks quickly regrouped however and used their speed and size advantage to stretch the UD defensive shape around the field. Loose balls in the middle third were problematic for Dayton. Ohio State did well to win a majority of the challenges which in turn led to more offensive possession. OSU also did a nice job of using the pace of the ball to do much of the work moving forward. The Flyer back line was forced to defend near the touch lines and prevent crosses from entering the goal box. For the most part, UD bent but never broke.

UD tried the long ball on several occasions to get behind Ohio State's defenders, but it was usually snuffed out with little drama as the Bucks showcased quality speed in all corners of the pitch. As UD worked the ball on the ground however and increased the touches to Waters, Ashley Campbell, and Libby Leedom, UD had more success and were able to find a few gaps to encroach up the field.

Both sides had their chances to score in the first half with Ohio State missing out on the best opportunities. Still, Dayton hung tough and with the first half deadlocked at 0-0, the Flyers were where they wanted to be. OSU out-shot UD 8-5 in the first 45 minutes and also out-cornered UD 5-1.

Lethargic second-half starts were problematic on the two-game road trip to Florida and the bugaboo caught up with UD again Thursday night. The Buckeyes took advantage of soft marks all over the field and pushed inside the UD goal box, eventually knocking home a loose ball from short distance to put the Flyers in a 1-0 deficit just three minutes after the re-start.

The goal took the wind out of the Flyer sails over the next 15 minutes as Ohio State dominated physically everywhere on the field. UD became intimidated and began shying away from 50/50 challenges and loose balls bouncing into open grass. The Bucks never down-shifted on the challenges however and bulldozed through many of them, gaining possession along the way and forcing UD to backtrack and defend.

The loose marking and lethargic work rate finally cost them in the 60th minute when the Bucks drilled one home from inside the box after a bevy of uncontested touches met little resistance. Down 2-0 to a Top-20 foe, the fat lady began warming up behind the stage.

To UD's credit however they picked up their play over the last 30 minutes and outplayed the Buckeyes during that time. The run-of-play focused in the Flyer offensive half of the field and while most of UD's shots were ambitious, off-target attempts from long distance, at least Dayton had something to feel good about.

Balls played to Campbell and Waters remained UD's best scoring threats. Campbell tried legging a few long balls out along the right touch line, while Waters looked for her shot from a central position outside the box. Meghan Blank worked the left attacking side and did enough to help the Flyers earn a few set pieces and corner kicks.

Still, Dayton couldn't find the back of the net. The Buckeyes were compact in their defensive shape and had the athleticism to leg out or push aside most of the important challenges. It wasn't until Dayton earned a free kick from 25yds out that the Buckeyes surrendered a goal. Waters took her time and placed the long shot to the far left post and past a diving GK to make the score 2-1.

Unfortunately, UD ran out of time. The first 25 minutes of the second half did most of the damage and Mike Tucker's team never fully recovered. At the end of the day, the team with the bigger, faster, stronger players prevailed. Ohio State had the better overall run-of-play as well. That said, Dayton made it unnecessarily easy at times for them and once they dug their heels in a bit and pushed back later in the second half, the teams were far more even. Perhaps Ohio State let off the gas with a two-goal lead, but UD demonstrated an ability to up their level of play as well. Against Top-20 opponents however, you need a full 90.

UD out-shot OSU 14-11 in the second half, including a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks. While UD generated a lot of shots, many were not high-quality. While total saves were even at 6-6, Flyer GK Kaelyn Johns was more active in the box.

Dayton will try again for their first win of the season at Michigan State on Sunday afternoon.