DAYTON (OH) — On a night honoring UD’s seniors, the Dayton Flyers had to overcome more than just the Richmond Spiders. Playing in a quagmire and on a nearly unplayable Baujan Field, UD conquered both the opposition and the inhospitable elements for the hard-fought 2-1 victory Friday night. The Flyers improve to 13-4 (7-1) while Richmond falls to 7-9-1 (3-4-1).

With an 18hr soak of non-stop rain, Baujan Field couldn’t drain all of the precipitation in time for kickoff. Standing water puddled in several places and with the rain continuing to pour down, field conditions were abysmal from the start — and only got worse.

As the match got underway, it became apparent to both players, coaches, and fans that conventional strategy and gamesmanship would get virtually nowhere given the weather conditions. Both sides tried to play the ball on the ground at times, but standing water stopped passes in their tracks while players hydroplaned for the loose ball.

After a while, both teams figured out the best strategy: kick and run. It was the only way to move the ball forward. It also forced the back lines of both teams to play mistake-free soccer with a wet, skipping ball and puddles as deep as inflatable swimming pools.

Dayton had the better offensive chances however in the first 15 minutes, pushing the ball over the top with long balls out of the back line. The Spiders countered the nation’s #2 scoring offense by putting All-American on All-American. Striker Becca Wann was assigned the task of marking Colleen Williams in the Flyer offense. Wann’s size was her advantage while Williams countered with quicker touches and better field vision.

The early Flyer pressure generated several balls moving forward, including a great feed from Meghan Scharer to Williams sneaking behind the Spider back line. The all-time record holder for Flyer goals scored did what she did best and finished a great shot to the lower near post to put UD up 1-0 in the 17th minute.

Over the next 20 minutes, Dayton did well to win loose balls in the midfield and make the best of unfathomable field conditions. The Flyers made progress with a stronger work ethic because actual soccer skills became largely unimportant when playing on the pond of water. In the middle third of the field, freshman Nicole Waters did an outstanding job of winning high balls and holding off defenders, while fellow midfielder Alexis Garcia went low for timely tackles to prevent Richmond from organizing a quick counter.

Dayton cashed in on a great cross from Ashley Campbell on the right side of the goal box when Stephanie Emery knocked it home at the far post in the 35th minute to put UD up 2-0. Williams made a great near-post run and dummied the ball, freezing her defender and opening up the net for Emery’s finish.

Richmond cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 42nd minute on UD’s lone miscue of the night. Goalkeeper Jordin Melchert approached the top of the goal box to catch a floating ball, but it bounced out of her bread basket and to the feet to Erin Layne for the freebie into an open net.

Halftime stats were in Dayton’s favor. Shots were 11-4 and corner kicks 4-1.

For the roughly 50 die-hard fans in attendance braving the weather, most assumed the second half would generate additional scoring in light of the playing conditions. But it never happened. To both teams’ credit, their back lines stiffened up and did extremely well to limit mistakes and prevent the opposing strikers from getting behind the last defender. Each side took turns playing long balls out of the back, but UD had better success — helped in part by the quality play of central defender Sarah Senoyuit and her big leg. She changed field position time and again and kept the ball out of harm’s way when Richmond pushed numbers forward.

For the most part, that’s all either team could do: blast balls forward and hope for the best. Defenders did well to take no chances in their defensive third, booting everything up field rather than attempting to make a pass that might die in a puddle and give the opposition a chance to collect and shoot.

Richmond moved Wann further up field in the last 25 minutes, and Waters did an amazing job to win her share of balls against the bigger, stronger two-sport star athlete. At times Waters even got the best of her. Waters later came off the field with an injury with 15 minutes to play.

The Flyers had more scoring chances as things played out. The UD strikers were quicker to the ball and chased down many long balls to the corner flags. Richmond never got completely behind UD’s back line for a jail-break, an amazing feat of defensive discipline considering the field conditions. Scharer, Senoyuit, Allison Klinefelter, and Alysha Mallon had one of their best games of the season defending the Flyer goal mouth — even though it was sloppy, unconventional, and with an element of pot luck.

Richmond pushed forward in the final 10 minutes and knocked on the door a few times, but Dayton came up huge on several clears to poke a ball out of danger at the last second and prevent the Spiders from ripping a ball on frame and getting a friendly skip or bounce to tie the match. Thankfully, UD toughened up in the last three minutes and showed some moxie when they needed it most.

Match stats favored UD in shots 20-10 and corner kicks 5-1.

Friday evening’s match was less about soccer and more like an improvised rugby scrimmage. The tougher team would make their own luck and the Flyers did just that against a Richmond team that has size and strength at most positions on the field. In many cases, UD gave up a few pounds and a few inches, but it didn’t matter because the effort — for the most part — was sensational.

Dayton finishes out the regular season on Sunday afternoon against VCU. Game time is 1pm.