The Dayton Flyers battled through frigid temperatures Friday night, outlasting the weather and the Temple Owls 3-0 before 286 die-hard fans at Baujan Field. Sunday Isename scored twice for Dayton who improve to 8-9-1 (3-6) overall while Temple falls to 8-8-1 (3-5-1).

The bitter cold made things downright annoying for everyone in attendance and perhaps the players too, but Dayton put forth yet another solid performance on their home turf, one of the lone consistencies of the season. No matter the reason, the Flyers have played well at home all year and got down to business against Temple just as they have in prior home matches.

Temple had trouble gaining possession in the first 15 minutes of the game and Dayton pushed players forward to take advantage of opportunities. The Owls let UD place accurate passes to the midfielders and forwards, giving the Flyers a chance to one-touch it to a teammate who would then be in a great position to knock it forward again to an open player heading toward goal. Consequently, UD had several chances to get on the scoreboard in the opening minutes and though it never happened, Coach Schureck’s team continued to get good movement offensively that resulted in a handful of balls in the Owl box.

The Flyers ended up scoring the first goal in the 24th minute by catching Temple off guard. Midfielder Tye Stebbins placed a ball in the box and Sunday Isename redirected it off his head and past Owl GK Patrick Hannigan to the far post. Temple didn’t expect such a subtle goal in light of stopping several more promising Flyer chances, but it jump-started UD and gave the team a chance to play front-runner instead of catch-up, a good thing considering UD hasn’t done well after giving up the first goal of the match.

Temple never seriously threatened Flyer GK Jason Kurdziel in the first half, but he did have to steer a few balls away and clear a handful of back passes from the defenders. Credit the UD defense for not allowing the Owls to get a great look at the goal because Temple didn’t unleash a ringer between the pipes to keep Kurdziel honest. Junior sweeper Denny Clanton kept things organized in the back and for the most part, Nate Darr, Dasan Robinson, and Mike Nsien took care of business too. Halftime ended with Dayton holding a decisive advantage in shots on goal (9-3) but Temple earned the lone corner kick.

After many fans returned from the warm confines of the Frericks Center at halftime to catch game five of the UD vs. XU volleyball match, the second half got underway and Dayton picked up where they left off. The second half turned more physical as all five yellow cards issued by the referee were earned after halftime. Freshman Mpoki Tenende took advantage of a bonehead defensive mistake when the Temple players guarding the posts on a UD free kick failed to push out after the Owls initially cleared the ball. Dayton reclaimed the ball, chipped it over the Owl defensive line to four Flyer players standing all alone in front of the box, and Tenende finished it off with a strike past the goalkeeper from 8yds out. The Flyer players remained onside due to the pair of Owl players still hugging the posts, players who made no attempt whatsoever to even challenge Tenende’s shot.

Up 2-0, the match was pretty much out of reach and everyone at Baujan Field counted down the minutes until it was all over so everyone could take refuge from the cold. Temple managed to push a few balls up field in the final 15 minutes and the Flyers made an outstanding defensive clear on one occasion to help seal the shutout. A handful of Temple free kicks were also taken care of by the Dayton defense and the Owls did themselves no favors by showcasing some very poor finishing opportunities inside 20yds.

Dayton added one more goal in the 89th minute when Isename once again slotted a cross off his head that tucked inside the far post to make the score 3-0. Tye Stebbins was credited with the assist, his second on the day as he and Isename also hooked up for the first score.

Overall, Dayton outshot Temple 17-12 and earned all five corner kicks in the second half while holding Temple to the lone corner kick in the first half.

The Flyers have a chance to finish 2002 with a winning record by earning victories in their last two games. Dayton hosts St. Joseph’s on Sunday afternoon, then wraps up the season with senior day a week from Sunday.