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Heartbreak! Last-Second Goal Stops Dayton in 2OT
Heartbreak! Last-Second Goal Stops Dayton in 2OT
Christopher Rieman
Published by Chris R
08-20-2016
Exclamation Heartbreak! Last-Second Goal Stops Dayton in 2OT

CINCINNATI (OH) -- The UD Women's Soccer team opened the regular season Friday evening at Cincinnati, netting a second-half equalizer to push a 1-1 match into extra time. The Bearcats tore the heart out of the Flyers however with a game-winner from long distance with just 14 seconds remaining in the second overtime to finish the game in dramatic fashion. UD drops to 0-1-0 while UC starts the year 1-0-0.

In a match dictated by numerous 50/50 challenges and long-ball strategy, Cincinnati exerted some of their size and speed advantage in the early moments of the match to seize early control of the run of play. The Flyers were a half-step slow to loose balls and even when they arrived on time, were oftentimes pushed off the ball in the central third of the field, relegating UD to backtrack and play more defense than they preferred.

The Bearcats, able to step up and win balls near midfield, redirected possession with high-ball service to their attacking players running forward with pace.

It didn't take long for UC to get behind the UD back line either. Just 12 minutes into the match, Cincinnati back-doored a through-ball inside the box after catching Dayton out of position in their transition defense. Fouled in the box, the referee pointed to the PK spot and UC calmly slotted it home for the early 1-0 lead.

It didn't help that UD midfielder Erin O'Malley, a vital cog for the Flyers, went down with an injury early in the half to leave UD a bit short-handed between the goal boxes and without one of their more physical players. To their credit UD kept battling, but they remained a step slow to the ball in most places on the pitch -- the lack of physicality to push back and dig out possession cost UD a number of chances to move forward on offense when field position was advantageous.

By the end of the half, UD was out-shot 7-4 while corner kicks were even at 2-2. The Flyers never really challenged the UC net however and needed a better effort in the second half to make up for the first half performance gap.

In large part, that's what happened in the final 45 minutes of regulation with a slow and methodical improvement by Head Coach Mike Tucker's team. A half-hour lightning delay shortly after the restart sent both teams back to the locker room, but it was Dayton that took advantage of the intermission to create an urgency to play better.

Alexis Kiehl, UD's most dangerous attacking player, used her speed to cause trouble in the Cincinnati back line. She was able to separate herself with a burst of speed and help open up the field with runs down the touch line. Her teammates followed suit later in the second half with more committed challenges to loose balls near the center circle -- though it remained an uphill battle at times and lacked consistency.

Still, UD hung in there and much of the toughness came from the Flyer back line that took a slew of punches -- narrowly missing a few haymakers -- and kept the score close. Time and again they either dodged a bullet with a fortunate bounce or scrambled for a big-time tackle that turned the Bearcats away. UC seemed a bit frustrated at the number of quality chances that came up empty -- some of it their own doing but much of it from UD's back line that showed some toughness when the Flyer mids and forwards were unable to win possession and help the cause.

As the half wore on, UD got progressively stronger. The Flyers finally hit paydirt in the 72nd minute on a beautiful combo play from Libby Leedom to Kiehl that resulted in a flick-header to the far post that sailed over the Bearcat goalkeeper and tucked into the net to even the score at 1-1.

Shortly thereafter, Leedom called her own number and hit the woodwork from long distance. A scrum in the box almost netted a Flyer goal as well. Dayton had a number of late corner kicks to steal the victory but couldn't cash in. Cincinnati had similar chances, including a ball that trickled across the six yard box with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation.

Kiehl struck from long distance in the first OT that required a desperate tip-save over the crossbar. Cincinnati countered with more long balls from the midfield that forced the Flyers to chase in the final third. The Bearcats slowly turned the screw in the latter part of extra time with more loose-ball victories that prevented Dayton from heading in the other direction.

Unfortunately, a questionable no-call push in the Flyer defensive half of the field allowed a Bearcat to shake loose and strike from 25 yards with just 14 seconds remaining to send UD home with their first defeat of the season. The push gained an unfair advantage, but the referee chose to let play continue - one of a couple pushes late in the match that created attacking advantages but nary a whistle.

For the match, shots were even at 15-15 while UD won the battle of corner kicks 7-3.

On paper, the stats were even or slightly in favor of the Flyers. The eyeball test tells a slightly different story as UC had more meaningful possession during the course of the match, dominated loose-ball challenges at times, including a total command of aerial challenges from start to finish. Cincinnati's physical size and speed were issues Dayton had trouble with all evening -- they got better at countering those weapons as the match wore on, but the effort took its toll for lengthy stretches when the Flyers seemed a bit winded from battling a number of bigger, faster players.

The talent gap was not huge however. Technical ability was more or less even and UD did a nice job of creating some space with clever foot skills to counter UC's size. Over 110 minutes though, the pounding adds up and it was Cincinnati's game plan to leverage their size and quickness to the best of their ability. How good UC becomes in 2016 remains to be seen, but they would compete toward the top of the A10 Conference. How good UD becomes depends on how well they can bounce back from a heartbreaking defeat such as this.

UD has an opportunity to find out less than 48hrs from now as they return to action on Sunday with a road match at Ohio University.













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