LOUISVILLE (KY) — A goal in each half and a stingy defensive effort by the Louisville Cardinals ended the season for the Dayton Flyers with a 2-0 victory on their home turf Saturday evening. UD finishes the season at 19-4, while Louisville improves to 13-6 and advances to the NCAA Second Round.

Windy conditions and a poorly maintained field worked against the Flyers in the first half, nevermind the ongoing mystery of being the only higher seed of 32 First Round games forced to play on the road. With a steady gust of 25mph in the face of the Flyer defense, Louisville used the weather to their advantage by knocking balls down field and forcing UD to back-track for possession. By and large, the tactic worked as UD had trouble gaining sustained possession and working the ball upfield against the elements.

The Dayton defense worked full-time to clear balls away and avoid the disastrous counter-attack as the Cardinals were relentless in their objective to play direct and use their physicality to bull-rush the goal mouth. UD’s back line bent but didn’t break, though there were several close encounters that required diving tackles or desperate clears to avoid a fatal mistake.

The Flyers battled the windy conditions on offense with the best counter-attacking of the match. Working the ball on the ground, UD dribbled with pace for lengthy distances upfield and distributed to the wings looking for service. UD had a speed advantage when the field opened up, but the wind limited those opportunities to just a handful of quality chances during the first half of play.

Still, UD almost capitalized on a counter mid-way through the half when freshman Kelsey Smigel rocketed a shot from 20yds out that was tipped over the crossbar by Cardinal GK Chloe Kiefer. A bit earlier, Louisville cleared a mid-air ball off the goal line that appeared to cross the chalk.

The Flyer defense finally surrendered a goal in the 35th minute after corner kick service placed a ball in the mixer. Louisville bull-rushed the box and muscled the ball through the chaos for the 1-0 lead.

Louisville had a couple other golden opportunities to add to their lead, much of it from the powerful play of Big East Offensive Player of the Year Christine Exeter. Dwarfing UD defenders in size, she muscled her way to loose balls and forced UD to place extra attention on her talents. While UD did well to make her work for everything she earned, that left some room for others in the Cardinal offense to get open. Flyer GK Jordin Melchert had a busy first half with numerous balls in the box, crosses, and shots that required her immediate attention.

Senior defender Emily Kenyon saved a certain goal in dramatic fashion after back-tracking at full sprint and making a sliding clear just inches from the goal line.

Dayton almost tied the match late in the first half when Colleen Williams got loose in the box and fired a low shot that missed just wide of the far post. The Cardinal goalkeeper was beat on the play and in light of the windy conditions favoring Louisville, escaping with a 1-1 halftime score would have been extraordinarily favorable with the wind at UD’s back in the second half.

The Cards held on however and with the 1-0 halftime lead, out-shot UD 10-9 in the first half. Corner kicks favored UL 3-2.

With the wind in UD’s favor over the last 45 minutes, chances were good for a much better run of play in the attacking half of the field. The conditions didn’t disappoint as the Flyers took advantage and owned far more possession. Despite the wind however, UD started losing the battle for 50/50 balls in the attack. Louisville’s defense tightened up and won most of the important challenges for loose balls or headers in the air. Not surprisingly, Cardinal players had two or three inches and 15 additional pounds at most positions. Their physicality prevented Dayton from doing some bull-rushing of their own inside the goal box. Louisville won important tackles and cleared balls away, or deflected Flyer shots and prevented Dayton from punching a garbage ball into the net with a toe-poke or re-direct.

Louisville’s stingy defense remained a tough nut to crack over the final 25 minutes of play — not that the Flyers weren’t trying. On the flanks, Juliana Libertin ran marathon distances up and down the field to challenge players with the ball at her feet. Williams played target forward and did quite well to hold off physical UL defenders while dishing to teammates. Unfortunately, every time Williams looked to strike a ball on frame, the Cards were there to block the shot or poke it away entirely.

UD’s fatal blow came in the 76th minute when a defensive miscue in the back line surrendered possession 25yds out from goal. Louisville crossed the ball to the left side where a well-placed shot to the low corner of the far post beat Jordin Melchert for the 2-0 Cardinal lead.

Dayton battled hard to the very end, but Louisville capitalized on a few breaks, enjoyed the home field advantage, and took advantage of some size mismatches to impose their will on UD when it mattered most.

Match stats reflected the competitiveness of both sides with Dayton owning an 18-16 edge in shots and Louisville winning on corner kicks 4-3. The result came down to a few bounces, touches of the ball, and some quality defending by the Louisville back line. Unable to bully their way through the defense, Dayton had trouble getting around the last defender for a clean, open look on frame. Some of UD’s best scoring opportunities were rushed in part to the fast closing speed of Cardinal defenders.

Dayton finishes the season at 19-4, the second consecutive 19-win season.