UDPride Discussion Forums    
     

Go Back   UDPride Discussion Forums > LATEST ARTICLES > UDPride Articles

UDPride Articles Published content from your UDPride staff

» Log in
User Name:

Password:

Not a member yet?
Register Now!
» Advertisement
Comment
 
Article Tools Display Modes
WSOC: Flyers Savage 2-2 Draw vs Toledo in Season Opener
WSOC: Flyers Savage 2-2 Draw vs Toledo in Season Opener
Christopher Rieman
Published by Chris R
08-18-2022
Exclamation WSOC: Flyers Savage 2-2 Draw vs Toledo in Season Opener

The Dayton Flyers women’s soccer team opened the season against Toledo on Thursday evening at Baujan Field, resulting in a 2-2 draw. Dayton jumped out to an early lead but fell behind 2-1 on the heels of a pair of defensive miscues. Noel Blain’s second half goal averted disaster to salvage a point.

Picked 5th in the preseason MAC Poll, the Rockets were looking to top the Flyers for the second consecutive season. The opening minutes of the match were largely uneventful, but as the second 10 minutes commenced UD began asserting themselves in the offensive half of the field. Dayton found ways to get forward despite the absence of super speedster Jess Sheldon leading the way, but most of the opportunities were scattered off-frame.

Laney Huber eventually put the Flyers on top however as the persistence paid off with a far-post tap from point-blank range in the 21st minute. Dayton played a ball to the far post and Toledo GK Emma Boutorwick was out of position to clean it up, leaving Huber free to make the score 1-0.

The tempo and tenor of the first half slowly flipped as the next 25 minutes played out. Toledo cleaned up their passing while taking advantage of repetitive unforced Flyer mistakes – especially in the defensive half. Dayton got away with it for a while, but the Rockets snookered UD’s defense into a set-piece miscue in the 33rd minute to tie the match at 1-1. UT purposely ran a player offside behind Dayton’s defensive line – a play that distracted UD and allowed the cross to bounce in front of the box. The necessary clearance was never there and the untouched ball found the far corner of the net.

The bugaboos continued over the last 15 minutes as self-inflicted mistakes prevented UD from clawing back and taking control of the match. Passing was often short, slow, or off-target, while the Rockets did well to dis-possess UD in dangerous parts of the field that required additional fire drills to eliminate the danger.

Toledo’s pressure and Dayton’s compounding mistakes intersected again just 30 seconds before halftime when the Flyers boogered up an unforced clearance that led to a Rocket possession and unmarked strike from 25yds. The terrific strike found the upper 90 of the left post to put the Rockets ahead 2-1, but the opportunity never should have materialized.

First half stats favored UD in shots 16-6 and corners 3-2, but quality scoring opportunities were largely missing. The Flyers surrendered two goals but had just one save – another indication of the sloppy play that flipped the scoreboard.

With no overtime in NCAA soccer for 2022, the Flyers had 45 minutes to find two goals to come from behind and earn the victory. The run of play after the restart favored UD, but speed of play hindered Dayton’s ability to get players loose in the offensive third – the kind of booming runs Sheldon so often provides. When UD did get numbers pushing forward, the delivery pass was a bit too strong or off the mark to allow the targeted teammate to attack directly on goal.

The Rockets did well to counterattack and take advantage of sloppy marking in the Flyer back line, missing several excellent chances to stretch the lead to 3-1 – including a 1v1 with UD goalkeeper Madelyn Dewey that should have stuck a fork in the Flyers.

UD pressed on however and finally tied the match in the 78th minute on a free kick redirect by Noel Blain directly in front of the mixer. The ball scooted past the scrum and into an open net to make it 2-2 with 12 minutes remaining.

Both teams had chances to win the match in the final minutes – including several UD chances inside the box that needed a timely poke but couldn’t get past the numerous bodies.

Dayton outshot Toledo 27-13 and won the battle of corner kicks 6-4, but the story of the match centered around the Flyers’ generosity in the defensive half of the field. It’s been a problem for the last two or three years and the next step in program development must focus on eliminating those unforced errors that lead to goals. The UD back line simply has too much experience to continue getting caught flat and out of position on quick counters. The Rockets were also a bit unlucky to score just twice – though the same could be said for the Flyers. Nevertheless, Toledo is also an opponent that must be dispatched at home 19 out of 20 times, so allowing a victory to slip away certainly stings. At the same time however, Dayton responded after falling behind and salvaged a tie despite all of the mis-steps and lack of Jess Sheldon terrorizing the Rocket back line. It’s a start. It’s not the start UD wanted, but it’s a result both sides deserved and there’s a lesson to stick in the back pocket as the young season moves forward.
__________________

Hot shooting hides a multitude of sins.
Make everyone else's "one day" your "day one".
Article Tools
  #1  
By soccerflyer on 08-18-2022, 11:41 PM
Agreed, point is a point, but Toledo at home is a must win game and the defense must respond better.
Reply With Quote
Comment

Article Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.1

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:48 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.6
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement System V2.6 By   Branden

Article powered by GARS 2.1.8m ©2005-2006

     
 
Copyright 1996-2012 UDPride.com. All Rights Reserved.