UDMSOC: Flyers Bludgeon Detroit 5-0

The Dayton Flyers men's soccer team needed a win -- any win -- after a rough start to the 2019 season. Closes losses and inconsistent play hampered the opening three weeks of action, but UD found their groove against Detroit Mercy on Tuesday evening, bush-whacking the Titans 5-0 on a perfect night for soccer at Baujan Field. Toluwalase Oladeinbo scored twice in the first half and his teammates finished the job with three more goals as Dayton improves to 2-4-0 (0-0-0). Detroit falls to 2-4-0 (0-1-0).

One obvious reason for Dayton's struggles in the non-conference portion of the season was lack of scoring prowess around the goal mouth. Even when the Flyers generated scoring chances however, few opportunities were put on frame and even fewer found the back of the net. The absence of senior Rok Taneski has been felt too, but his un-availability alone was not to blame.

Detroit Mercy presented an opportunity for UD to rediscover their form against an opponent that was in all likelihood below the Flyers' talent level or ceiling. The Titans have been up and down too -- playing San Diego, SDSU, and Milwaukee close while absorbing an 8-0 lathering at Clemson just a week prior. Still, Dayton needed all the assistance they could get to start tasting success once again.

Fortunately, success came early and often on Tuesday evening as Dayton dominated the opening minutes of the match by pushing numbers forward into gaping holes in the Titan defense. Some of that was UDM's lack of shape but credit also to the Flyers for making strong runs to open spaces and forcing the Detroit back line to stretch out into vulnerable postures.

Toluwalase Oladeinbo got the scoring started in the 10th minute after climbing the ladder directly in front of the UDM goal box to polish away a header placed in a perfect spot by teammate Xavier Zengue. Titan goalkeeper Devin Mendez tried to challenge but was late to the play and Oladeinbo redirected it for the early 1-0 Flyer advantage.

The next 20 minutes were some of Dayton's best soccer of the season as they controlled possession and the overall run of play. The UD back line did a great job of collecting high-ball service from the UDM attack and distributing it to the mids and forwards for purposeful counters on the other end of the field. Unlike past matches, there were fewer wasted balls or giveaways and the additional possession did wonders for UD's overall confidence as the first half continued.

It wasn't long before UD found a Titan defensive weakness and began exploiting it on numerous occasions -- namely overlapping runs along the touch lines by Flyer mids and defenders pushing forward. They enjoyed routine service near the baseline and were able to pepper the Titan goal box with quality crosses awaiting a finisher. That's precisely how Dayton extended the lead to 2-0 in the 32nd minute as Laurel Aug flicked a ball past a defender, continued his overlap, tapped the brakes at the baseline, and cut his defender inside for an uncontested cross into the UDM goal box. Oladeinbo once again went headhunting and polished the service off to double the lead and give the Flyers some additional cushion.

Jacob Degler added a third goal in the 39th minute on a well-struck header to make the score 3-0 and put Detroit on life support. Halftime would arrive with the same score as UD out-shot UDM 14-9. All three Dayton goals were high-quality, but there were other scoring opportunities that deserved better finishing and in some respects the Titans were fortunate not to surrender additional goals.

The second half was largely the same storyline as the first 45 minutes. Dayton continued to dominate, though there were longer stretches where the level of play suffered at times as passing and overall possession were not as sharp. Some of that was to be expected considering the final result was all but signed, sealed, and delivered. Nevertheless, the Flyers were still able to generate strong moments of play both offensively and defensively to preserve the shutout and extend the 3-0 lead.

Jonas Fjeldberg notched his team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 60th minute off a feed from Rok Taneski. UD was superb at times with their through-balls between Titan defenders, allowing teammates running wide or down Main Street to run directly onto well-weighted passes and go for a shot on goal without the need to slow play and re-set. Past matches lacked this level of service -- either in weight of the service or the amount of service entirely. Head Coach Dennis Currier's team found all the alleys they wanted on Tuesday evening however.

Danny May came off the bench late in the second half found the back of the net in the 86th minute, once again from solid execution in the offensive third of the field and strong finishing when it counted.

The Flyers ultimately out-shot the Titans 21-16 but those numbers were misleading as nearly all of UDM's shots were sprayed far and wide of GK Federico Barrios who had little to do all match but for a single save. On the other end however, the Flyers weren't much better in terms of marksmanship. Dayton put just six shots on frame but the other misses were countered by converting on five of those on-target strikes that challenged the UDM goalkeeper. It's a step in the right direction for an offense that's had a tough time scoring goals.

While the offense did what they needed, so too the Flyer back line. Cole Watkins & Co. were organized and never seemed overwhelmed by anything Detroit threw at them. The Titans' most dangerous scoring chances came on free kicks and corner kicks -- basically long-ball service instead of constructive execution within the run of play. The defensive shape was good for 90 minutes and the back line appeared interested in preserving the shutout rather than napping through the last 10-15 minutes of the game.

The 5-0 victory was -- by far -- UD's best result of the season just based on the level of soccer alone. As that improves, the goals should follow just as they did on Tuesday night. The Flyers hit the road this weekend for a Saturday match at West Virginia. Kickoff is 7pm.