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Flyers Race Past Murray State 5-1
Flyers Race Past Murray State 5-1
Christopher Rieman
Published by Chris R
08-31-2014
Flyers Race Past Murray State 5-1

The Dayton Flyers women's soccer team finished the weekend with a bang, topping Murray State 5-1 amid humid and overcast skies Sunday afternoon at Baujan Field. All five goals came from different players as UD dominated in the important areas for much of the afternoon to improve to 2-1-1 on the season. The Racers fall to 1-2-0.

Despite the onslaught of goals, it took a while for the Flyers to hit their stride. The first 15 minutes of the match consisted of repetitive back-and-forth play as both sides took their time to find and exploit weak spots in the opposition. Murray State tried working the flanks where most of their speed was, while Dayton knocked the ball around in the middle of the pitch in an attempt to use their size and physicality advantage -- most often Nicole Waters and Erin O'Malley.

Each team had early chances. The Racers turned the corner along the touch lines a couple times and sent well-placed crosses into the Flyer box, but no one was home and UD was able to collect and build out of the back. In the Flyer attack, Ashley Campbell, Alexis Kiehl, and Sidney Leroy made long runs down the touchlines for balls played out of the central midfield. When that didn't work, Dayton took a few chances from long distance. Campbell hit the crossbar from just outside the goal box, and other attempts resulted in a bevy of Flyer corner kicks to pepper the Racer goal mouth even further.

The anaconda-like pressure paid off in the 24th minute when O'Malley buried a header into the net from 12 yards out, courtesy of a Waters corner kick from the right side.

From there, Dayton began to assert their dominance over much of the field. While UD's back line remained busy, they were helped by a Flyer midfield that did exceedingly well to win a large share of the loose balls in the central third. The possession allowed UD to counter quickly and expose Murray State's inexperienced back line.

Dayton continued to generate shots -- some on goal and some off target. Haley Keller cleaned up her own blocked shot from the fringes of the goal box and redirected it back into the net to put the Flyers up 2-0 in the 33rd minute. Five minutes later, Campbell dialed one up from 25yds out that found the upper 90 of the far post to give UD the commanding 3-0 advantage -- a score that would hold up until intermission.

The Flyers out-shot Murray State 16-5 in the first half, including a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The start of the second half was a bit sluggish as the Racers came out determined to improve upon their disappointing first half. To their credit, they were able to get deep into UD's defensive third on a number of occasions, though most of them were turned away by timely tackles or clears. A poor giveaway near midfield resulted in an unchallenged Murray State cross from the right side that squibbed across the UD goal box and to the far post. The Racers cleaned up the loose change with only goalkeeper Elizabeth James to beat, cutting the deficit to 3-1 in the 55th minute.

A two-goal lead is the most dangerous lead in soccer, but Dayton snuffed out any real chance of a Murray State comeback in the 61st minute when Chelsea Rose re-directed another Waters corner kick, looping a ball over the goalkeeper to put Dayton up 4-1.

Meghan Blank one-upped Campbell's first-half bazooka with a well-struck shot of her own, tattooing a ball from 21yds out that found the upper corner of the near post to put the Racers down 5-1 in the 78th minute.

From there, Murray State ran out of gas, especially along the defensive flanks where Blank, Campbell, Leroy, Rose, Kelsey Smigel, and others hounded their defenders with one-vs-one attacking play. The dribble-drives were successful, and several more crosses were sent into the MSU goal box. In some respects the Racers were fortunate to hold firm and keep the scoreboard frozen until the final whistle.

For the match, UD out-shot MSU 28-11, including 10-3 in shots on frame. Five goals on 10 shots on target is a great result, as was the 5-2 edge in corner kicks.

UD did everything they needed to and while fans had few illusions about the talent advantage before the game, Head Coach Mike Tucker's team still had to put in the work and get it done. The midfield was dominant as Waters and O'Malley controlled the ball by controlling the bodies around them. Allison Klinefelter was excellent defensively along the right flank until she gassed out in the last 10 minutes. She had help from Nicole Griesinger and Sarah Byrne however. All three showed the first real signs of developing a unity in the back line.

Leroy got the start alongside Campbell at striker -- likely from her performance against UCSB on Friday. While her first half was pedestrian, she made a difference later in the second half to help give UD a dangerous attack along the right touch line. The same can be said for Rose and Blank.

The only negative on the afternoon was the second-half goal surrendered on the heels of a Flyer giveaway, but it was a mistake that's easily correctable.

Dayton now finds itself above .500 for the first time this year, but there's no time to celebrate. Ohio State, Indiana, Santa Clara, and Stanford loom over the next two weekends -- matches that will ultimately make or break UD's NCAA at-large chances when it's all said and done. All four schools reached the postseason a year ago and the Flyers are likely underdogs in each one. Mike Tucker's team must find a way to grind out a couple results at the very least, not an easy task considering all four games are away from the friendly confines of Baujan Field.

Win, lose, or draw, the players, coaches, and fans will have a firm handle on the potential of this team by mid-September.

















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