DAYTON (OH) — You can’t coach speed and speed kills.

A trio of beautiful goals secured senior Daniel Berko’s first career hat trick as the Dayton Flyers out-gunned the Kentucky Wildcats 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Baujan Field. After a 0-0 halftime score, the teams combined for seven tallies in the final 45 minutes. Dayton remains perfect on the 2012 season at 2-0, while UK drops their season opener (0-1).

Soccer is a peculiar sport and Sunday’s matchup was a perfect illustration of the idiosyncrasies of the ‘beautiful game’. For most of the first half, Kentucky dominated in all phases. After kickoff, it was clear the Wildcats could control possession for seemingly uninterrupted periods as long as they kept the ball moving. Unable to manufacture any meaningful possession of their own, the Flyers were more or less chasing the ball in a defensive posture for the first 45 minutes.

Part of the problem: Dayton lacked any marking in the middle third of the field to slow Kentucky down and force some errant passes or giveaways. For long stretches, UK knocked the ball around and made judicious use of the entire width of the field to spread UD out and create giant swaths of free space. Swinging the ball from sideline to sideline, the Flyers were chasing the entire width of the field, leaving weak-side attacking players open on almost every UK build-up. Somehow, the Wildcats couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying or for a lack of quality chances in the offensive third of the field.

Freshman goalkeeper Chris Froschauer maintained an organized goal box and did well on most high balls to thwart the most dangerous stuff out of harm’s way. But he didn’t always get sure-footed help from the wing defenders, allowing UK to throw numbers forward and balls in the box.

Surprisingly, in spite of being dominated and hardly touching the ball, UD managed to keep a clean sheet heading into halftime. Kentucky held a 13-6 advantage in shots and 4-1 edge in corner kicks.

The second half would remain problematic if the Flyers were not able to produce some intermittent possession. Long balls in the first half turned into giveaways and that recipe wouldn’t work much better in the second half either. Additionally, UD needed a spark. Someone or something would have to provide it.

Enter Daniel Berko. The senior from Ghana was instrumental in everything that happened in the second half and his speed and work rate completely changed the match.

One of the few Flyer strikers that insists on pressuring every pass in the opponent’s defensive third, he challenged a clear in the box and took advantage of a poor touch to pound a loose ball into the net that squirted away from the goalkeeper. With no one else close to the action, it was all Berko’s to take credit for, putting the Flyers up 1-0 in the 52nd minute.

Kentucky scored just two minutes later to equalize. An odd bounce and miscommunication led to a giveaway in front of the box to tie the match at 1-1. From here, things got wild and crazy.

Berko added his second goal in the 58th minute when he received excellent service across the field from Jonathan Nelson. Collecting the long ball on the left side of the box, Berko made quick work of a Kentucky defender with a beautiful juke, cut the ball to his shooting foot, and slotted it home at the far post for the 2-1 Dayton advantage.

Andres Acevedo added another goal one minute later off of corner kick service that found the head of a teammate, and went his direction for a redirect header into the net for the commanding 3-1 lead.

Berko earned his hat trick in the 65th minute on service from Acevedo, yielding another goal on a nifty piece of skill.

Less than a minute later however, the Wildcats made it 4-2 after a legitimate take-down in the goal box earned Kentucky a well-deserved PK.

With 15 minutes left to play, Dayton was still firmly in control according to the scoreboard, even if the run of play was squarely at odds. Over the course of the second half, Kentucky maintained an overall posture of superiority in terms of possession and quality scoring chances. The Flyers were simply ahead because they cashed in on the opportunities they had — helped in part by terrific individual brilliance.

UK cut the lead to 4-3 in the 85th minute on a finish at the near post after beating a Flyer defender baseline. Kentucky threw everyone forward in the last five minutes to find the equalizer, but UD held tough in the back line just long enough to preserve the entertaining victory.

Overall, UK outshot UD 21-15 and had a 7-4 edge in corner kicks. Based on the body of work, the Wildcats were superior in nearly all phases except putting the ball in the net. Here’s where Dayton really shined and took advantage of the few chances they had. Berko was exceptional and his clinical finishes were of the highest quality in both poise and patience.

The Flyers still have a long way to go. An honest case can be made that they were outplayed in both matches against Ohio State and Kentucky — yet secured impressive victories in spite of the run of play. That’s a sign of being opportunistic and as this team figures out an identity, making those discoveries in the course of winning sure beats doing so while the losses pile up. That’s exactly that the Flyers did most of the last season — especially early on. To finish the first weekend of the 2012 campaign with wins over OSU and Kentucky has to be satisfying for players and coaches considering the amount of work they’ve invested — and the work-in-progress they are part of.

UD hits the road next weekend for matches against Furman and College of Charleston.