The Dayton Flyers ended a five-game losing streak Sunday afternoon as freshman defender Nate Darr collected a hat trick with the first three goals of his career to help lift the Flyers past Fordham 4-2. Fellow freshman Mpoki Tenende scored the other goal to help improve the Flyer record to 6-8-1 (1-5) on the season while the Rams fall to 4-9 (1-5).

Reminiscent of Friday’s match, the Flyers controlled the game from the very beginning and were clearly the better side. Fordham had trouble at times fending off Flyer players who picked their pocket in the midfield and turned them into counterattacks in the offensive third of the field. Several good balls to the weak side gave the Flyers a chance to cross several balls in the box, but nobody could find a boot on the ball to put it away, keeping the game scoreless despite the obvious mismatch. To Fordham’s credit however, they remained scrappy and did just enough to keep the Flyers honest. On a couple of occasions the Rams even pushed the ball forward and had a few opportunistic chances to develop quick counters and perhaps surprise UD with a quick goal of their own. For the most part however, the Rams had little offense unless they played free kicks in the box and Dayton remained the team to beat.

With a few decent chances by the wayside, Dayton finally hit paydirt in the 29th minute when freshman defender Nate Darr stoned a George Nanchoff corner kick with his head that snuck under the crossbar for the first score of the match. It was the first goal for Dayton in over three games. The Flyers kept the pressure on and created more chances thereafter, leaving Fordham in a defensive bunker for the rest of the half. Fellow freshman Mpoki Tenende added to the lead in the 37th minute when he flicked a ball past the Ram GK Nathanial Freihaut from 20yds out off a serve from senior Michael Morales. But the Flyers weren’t finished and neither was Nate Darr. Darr scored his second of three goals in the match in the 42nd minute when he buried a rebound from 15yds out to give Dayton a commanding 3-0 lead that ultimately proved to be the halftime score. Dayton had three goals on eight first half shots and, unlike Friday’s match against LaSalle where nothing seemed to break the Flyers way, UD successfully finished off their chances and gave the defense some breathing room heading into the second half.

Fordham showed their stubbornness in the second half however and capitalized on a couple breakdowns in the Dayton defense to get back in the match. Ryan Bonura scored the first goal of the game for Fordham in the 53rd minute on a scrum just in front of the Flyer goal mouth. Unable to clear it away, Bonura poked it in and gave Fordham some much-needed hope as Dayton continued to control most of the possession and have their way with things. The men from the Bronx kept plugging away and used their free kick opportunities well to send balls in the box that forced the Flyers to make a goalkeeping save or defensive clear. The Rams cut the lead to 3-2 in the 70th minute when James Chicavich headed in a corner kick similar to Nate Darr’s in the first half. What started out as smooth sailing in the second half turned into a potentially scary set of circumstances — especially since Fordham is not one of the stronger programs on the schedule. It didn’t appear as if the Flyers let up on the gas, but more likely a case of a couple communication breakdowns that gave Fordham chances they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Dayton stuck a fork in things in the 75th minute however when Nanchoff and Darr teamed up once again on a corner kick. Darr, who made a living in high school on scoring goals with his head, redirected Nanchoff’s serve for the hat trick and a 4-2 Flyer advantage. Fordham had nothing left in the tank and Dayton created a few more opportunities late in the game to add to the lead, but couldn’t cash in for their fifth goal of the game. Regardless, the four goals were the most goals scored in single match all season by Coach Schureck’s Flyers.

The match was extremely physical all day and the referee had to work extra head to keep things from getting out of hand. The Rams had one goal taken away in the second half due to offsides while both teams combined for nine yellow cards. Senior Michael Morales notched his first career point with an assist on Tenende’s goal and junior Jeff Suzuki saw action in the midfield once again after missing the first part of the season with an apparent injury. Senior Michael Nsien had a strong game at left back as did Dasan Robinson at right back.

The Flyers outshot the Rams 13-10 and had a 5-4 advantage in corner kicks. While Dayton didn’t take a lot of shots, the ones they did take proved more dangerous than earlier in the year and continue the trend fans saw against LaSalle of putting the ball on goal and forcing the other team to make a defensive stop.

UD returns to action on Friday when they travel to Duquesne in Pittsburgh, then follow it up with a road match in rural Olean, NY, to take on St. Bonaventure