Flyers Dominate Muskies 3-0

DAYTON (OH) -- After the first five minutes, everything was decided but the final score. That's how dominating the Dayton Flyers were in a 3-0 victory over conference rival Xavier on Friday evening at Baujan Field. Juliana Libertin converted a penalty kick in the first half, while Colleen Williams and Ashley Campbell tallied scores late in the second half to seal the win. UD improves to 10-4 (4-1), while XU falls to 6-8-1 (1-4).

From the opening whistle it was obvious to the sizable crowd of 1,102 that Dayton had the better players, better tactics, and better run of play. With plenty of room to work the ball around, UD controlled the tempo by gaining possession and playing keep-away for extended periods. Xavier did very little to slow the Flyers down and were forced to chase the ball on both the strong and weak sides of the field. The weak side is where UD had the most room however and when balls were transitioned to the opposite side of the field, Dayton moved the ball forward with dribble penetration.

Unfortunately, all of the possession and ball control bogged down as the UD offense encroached upon the goal box. As space tightened, passes lacked purpose, timing was off, and spacing among teammates seemed to get in the way of otherwise outstanding scoring chances. Not that UD didn't threaten with shots on goal. But most of UD's shots were from outside the box and those long-range blasts were oftentimes off target or struck directly at the Xavier goalkeeper.

Nonetheless, UD remained in firm control -- especially on defense. While UD kept shooting on offense, the Flyer back line made relatively easy work of the Xavier attack. Running down loose balls and swinging possession across the back line, Dayton opened up the field with some good touches out of the defense. The defense also capitalized on some great anticipation by right fullback Ally Klinefelter. She stepped up on several occasions and picked off Xavier passes to help re-start the Flyer offense.

Dayton's methodical pressure paid off on the 20th minute when junior Juliana Libertin raced down the left flank and into the box. After cutting back against the grain, a Muskie defender took her down in the box without making an attempt for the ball. The referee pointed to the penalty kick spot and Libertin finished it to the lower left post for the 1-0 UD advantage.

Over the next 25 minutes, Dayton made a concerted effort to post up Williams high in the offense. With solid serves to her feet, she gave the Flyers possession near the top of the box and did well to find teammates or attract double-teams to open up the field for others. Williams had more touches in the first half than perhaps all other matches this season -- and she would eventually touch the ball just as many times in the second half as well.

By halftime, UD owned a commanding 22-2 lead in shots and a 5-0 sweep in corner kicks.

The second half was no better for Xavier. Clearly outmatched in every phase, the Muskies were just hoping to catch UD napping and counter with a quick strike that might tie the match. Over the last 45 minutes they knocked a couple dangerous balls in the box, but the chances were too few and far between to give their fans any confidence of a comeback.

On the other side of the ball, Dayton continued to serve balls to the feet of Williams up top. In the midfield, freshman Nicole Waters and senior Alexis Garcia controlled possession and did a decent job of connecting the defense to the offense. Junior Stephanie Emery also did well with the dribble by taking possession forward. Once again, Dayton was dominating from a run-of-play standpoint, but execution in the last 25 yards of the offense still lacked a purpose.

The middle 25 minutes of the second half were a bit sloppy in terms of passing and speed of play. UD went through a malaise that underscored the stark difference in talent between the two sides. Things were so easy at times that focus was lost when UD began knocking on the door of the Muskie goal box.

Xavier did themselves no favors however with anemic goal kicks. Neither the goalkeeper or fullback could boot a ball 25 yards upfield and Dayton kept turning the ball around and locking XU into a defensive bunker they could never escape from.

All of that pressure wore down XU's back line, especially with Williams pounding on them for 75 minutes with her bulldozing mentality. All of her work eventually paid off in the 81st minute when she slotted a nifty shot to the far left post after uncorking a ball from a bad angle to put the Flyers up 2-0. Williams would end up with 13 shots on the night and scored on her most difficult strike.

Freshman Ashley Campbell added a third goal just five minutes later on a great feed from sophomore Kelsey Smigel inside the box. Smigel won the ball on the left side and set up her teammate for the easy score to put UD up 3-0 and round out the scoring.

UD out-shot Xavier by a whopping 38-4 margin and won the battle of corner kicks 10-2. It was complete domination from start to finish as the Muskies were clearly a step and half below the skill level of the Flyers. Dayton failed to capitalize on their bevy of offensive chances however and could have easily scored five or six goals. The offense was terrific at times in the middle third of the field, but struggled to piece it all together in front of the goal box. Part of it was impatience. Instead of crossing aimless balls in the box, UD had the skill level advantage to carve through Xavier rather than go over the top. Still, Dayton never looked shaken and had this match in hand from start to finish.

Dayton remains at home next weekend with a Friday evening match against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.