NEW ARTICLE: Dayton Wins First of Season 2-1 in OT

DAYTON (OH) -- In a span of 96 minutes, Head Coach Dennis Currier's Dayton Flyers won the match, nearly coughed it away, and won it again. Freshman Andres Acevedo's sudden-death goal six minutes after regulation earned UD its first win of the season with a 2-1 victory of the IPFW Mastodons at Baujan Field. Dayton improves to 1-1 while IPFW falls to 0-2.

Fans at Baujan Field were greeted to a much better effort Friday evening in comparison to the exhibition losses against Butler and Kentucky on the same pitch a week earlier. Dayton's work rate was markedly improved and that showed itself early in the first half as the Flyers were able to get forward and create some quality scoring chances.

Loose balls in the midfield and high balls over the top were contested far better, and as the Flyers won their share of them, fans saw meaningful possession for the first time this season. That's not to say the first 45 minutes was an artistic masterpiece. Neither side had firm control of the game, nor did they create long stretches of domination. Rather, there was a lot of pinball soccer and both sides played very direct as they moved forward on offense. But that didn't take away from the more competitive effort by Dayton to create something positive offensively.

For much of the first half, the run of play flowed back and forth. Neither side looked superior and neither side appeared willing to take reckless chances in order to get on the scoreboard first. While the soccer itself wasn't spectacular, both teams gave a strong effort. Individual players distinguished themselves at times with gritty tackles or hustle plays to win loose balls. The Flyer midfield stepped up earned possession with decent pickoffs or well-timed tackles. Overall, the effort was there for a young team fielding so many inexperienced players.

IPFW nearly scored first when Max Touloute juked his way through three Flyer defenders and blasted a shot on goal that Tyler Picard had covered up. Dayton countered with four first half corner kicks and peppered enough balls into the box in the first half to give themselves a sporting chance to score the first goal of the game. All that perspiration only earned a 0-0 halftime score however.

The Flyers made the most of a quality second half start by finding the back of the net in the 54th minute on what was the best combination play all night. Recent roster addition Oskar Kretzinger teamed up with Ryan Bauer in the midfield for a nifty back-heel that gave the Flyers an open lane into space. Evan McCreary became the third link in the chain and collected a perfectly weighted ball as he ran on goal inside the box. His bazooka from 17 yards out beat goalkeeper Donovan Dowling at the near post for the 1-0 Flyer lead.

Over the next 30 minutes, not much happened -- by either team. The level of soccer deteriorated and both sides seemed entirely content with the match ending 1-0. That ultimately haunted the Flyers however because taking their foot off the gas gave IPFW just enough room to capitalize.

Touloute, a terrific striker with top-level speed and ball skills, collected a ball in space and took a couple touches along the left side. Dayton rolled the dice and did not commit a defender forward, allowing Touloute to rifle a shot from 20 yards out that beat Picard at the far post in the 86th minute.

Suddenly, things were dicey. The Flyers did enough good things to earn the victory, but were two overtime periods away from possibly tying or losing.

Fortunately, Dayton made the most of their second chance when freshman Andres Acevedo headed in Ryan Bauer's corner kick just six minutes into extra time to put a cork in things. It wasn't exactly how the coaching staff preferred things play out, but UD got the result they wanted.

For the match, UD and IPFW totaled 17 shots a piece, while the Flyers earned an 8-6 edge in corner kicks.

It remains to be seen how good IPFW is or will become as the season unfolds (just 6-11-2 in 2009), but the young Flyers probably don't care. The two sides were well-matched. Currier put 10 players on the pitch that were new faces for 2010 or those that played sparingly (if at all) in 2009. With such a young team, the coaching staff must look for positives in places more seasoned sides might be accustomed to banking on. There is a plethora of young talent with college size and speed to make a mark in the Flyer program, but so little experience (as of yet) to make the orchestra play the same tune at the same time and in the same key. Fans saw a lot of that once again Friday night as teammates became strangers at times or communication remained lost in translation.

It's unfair to expect the 2010 Flyers to look and act like the 2009 squad that had veteran stars at nearly every position on the field. The best thing about freshmen? They become sophomores. At this point, the coaching staff must focus their attention on cultivating a top-flight work ethic on the pitch, while allowing the players to learn from their tactical mistakes as the season continues. The team will remain a work-in-progress all season. Still, the pace of the re-birth should keep fans interested throughout the year. As of now however, a lot of players are so green, they don't even know what they don't know. That should keep the coaching staff busy throughout the year.

Dayton takes on Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is 2:30pm.