The #19 Xavier Musketeers drove up I-75 for a back-yard brawl with the UD Women’s Soccer team and took care of business, handing the Flyers a 3-0 defeat in the second match of a Sunday soccer doubleheader at Baujan Field.  Two first half goals put the Flyers in serious trouble and a third Muskie goal just 10 minutes into the second half stuck a fork in things.  Dayton drops their first match of the 2024 season and falls to 2-1-0 while XU remains undefeated at 4-0-0.

The opening minutes delivered spirited play by both sides, but Dayton did more of the chasing rather than dictating tempo — in large part due to the speed and quickness advantage of the Xavier starting XI.  The Muskies created more time and space to knock the ball around and find areas of exploitation against the Flyer defense, while UD attempted to play longer balls downfield to catch XU napping. Unfortunately, Xavier had more than enough speed to close gaps without much trouble, snuffing out those UD chances before they materialized into something dangerous inside the Muskie goal box.  Still, the Flyers hung tough and battled, though up-hill as it was for considerable stretches.

Xavier went up 1-0 in the 20th minute on a shot to the near post that beat Flyer GK Batoul Reda.  XU tacked on another in the 44th minute — a back-breaker of sorts — to enjoy intermission with the comfortable 2-0 lead. Both goals came on Muskie attacks that sped past the Flyer back line unable to deny dangerous service inside the goal box. The finishes were largely clinical and academic by that point as the real damage came seconds earlier when Dayton got beat along the edges.

Halftime stats were 8-5 in shots and 3-3 in corner kicks, so it wasn’t exactly a bludgeoning.  Dayton needed a better effort in the second 45 minutes however to start controlling the run of play because absent the ball and space to attack, a comeback was unlikely.

Unfortunately, Xavier had answers all evening.  UD came close on a couple occasions and hit the crossbar in the waning stages, but it was never enough to make an honest threat at clawing back and salvaging a result.  The Muskies had faster legs could afford to fall 2-3 strides behind an attacking Flyer and still manage to make up the difference and dis-possess.  There were a lot of unfair horse races and the pace differential largely decided the outcome. When the Flyers did possess the ball, there was some success. Holding on to it however was a challenge and long service downfield played directly into XU’s strength.

XU tacked on a third goal in the 56th minute to put the Flyers down 3-0 and end the suspense. The last half hour was hard-fought, but Head Coach Eric Golz had few options to counter Xavier players with faster acceleration, top speed, and reflexes to win the ball in 1 vs 1 battles.  Dayton didn’t lay an egg; they battled fiercely in large stretches but ran into an opponent with more powerful weapons. Final stats were 15-7 in shots in favor of XU, while UD won the corner kick battle 6-3.

Lack of speed has been a program bugaboo for the last 3-4 seasons and aside from Jess Sheldon, the list of names that can game-wreck with their speedy feet probably ends there. Even one Sheldon isn’t enough; Dayton needs 4-6 of them to challenge top teams on the schedule including the likes of Saint Louis.  During the A10 title days, that’s how the sausage got made — putting greyhounds on the pitch and letting them chase bones.  UD can and will do well when games become possession-oriented chess matches, but that’s not how the Musketeers, Billikins, and other Top-25 teams compete.

UD remains at home for a match against Mercyhurst on August 29th. Kickoff is 7pm EDT.

 

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