The A10 Women’s Soccer Tournament got underway on Friday evening with a pair of higher seeds hosting lower seeds in the Quarterfinal rounds.  Earning the #2 seed, Dayton hosted #7  Virginia Commonwealth at Baujan Field and secured a 1-0 victory to extend their season and remain at home for a semifinal match on Wednesday, November 6th.   The Flyers improve to 14-3-2 (7-1-2) while VCU ends their season at 4-9-5 (3-2-5).

Chilly but otherwise dry temperatures for the first day of November welcomed the Flyers and Rams as the postseason got underway in a rematch of a hard-fought 1-0 Dayton victory on Oct. 20th that VCU dominated for extended stretches. The second act once again pitted Dayton’s successful ball-control, deliberate style against the Rams’ speed and athleticism. The contrast in approaches made for quality entertainment as the game kicked off and this time the Flyers were ready to go.

Dayton did well in the opening minutes to create an assertive posture that allowed Head Coach Eric Golz’ squad to dictate the tempo and context of play.  Quick to the ball and creating a shape to move forward, UD found space to attack the VCU defense in ways that were less available in the prior meeting a couple weeks prior. Whether that was a tactical adjustment or just a grittier level of hustle (or both), VCU didn’t catch the Flyers off guard and were the team forced to make the early adjustments.  The hard work paid off when freshman Laney Smith capitalized on a VCU defensive miscue to put the Flyers up 1-0 on the 11th minute. Dispossessing a defender and sprinting forward with the ball, Smith chipped VCU goalkeeper Allison Karpovich from long distance and tucked the ball inside the back post to put UD in the driver’s seat.  It was just the start Dayton needed to exact some confidence and force the Rams to press a bit more knowing both the scoreboard and game clock would eventually be to VCU’s disadvantage.

The middle 25 minutes of the first half were competitive and VCU had a couple excellent chances to tie things up. Dayton goalkeeper Batoul Reda came up huge on a couple occasions to snuff out 1 vs 1 opportunities with sliding kick saves, while her defensive unit cleared out the rest of the danger to protect the one goal lead.  Offensively, Dayton had additional dangerous moments to double the score including a terrific 1 vs 1 opportunity for senior Noel Blain that necessitated a similar kick save from the charging goalkeeper.  UD slowly took control of the stats with more shot attempts and corner kicks, but what the Rams lacked in statistics they made up for with quick counter-attacks to try to catch the Flyers napping.  For the first 45 minutes however, Dayton didn’t budge and put forth an excellent half of soccer in spite of some golden opportunities to stretch the lead further.

First half stats favored UD in shots 9-5 and corner kicks 2-0.

Coach Golz and his team fully expected the Rams to sell out in the second half and with nothing to lose that’s pretty much how the run of play flushed out.  The Rams put forward a strong effort that once again defied their overall W/L record; either they have been poorly coached all season, have been extremely unlucky, or been blind-sided by mid-season injuries. There’s no good reason VCU should be a four-win squad when their style of play and dangerous attack should have placed them in the A10’s top five or better.  Regardless, UD was forced to pick up the pace too and the result was a second half with more evened run-of-play.  Dayton almost made it 2-0 on a couple occasions inside the VCU goal box, but either couldn’t finish chances at their feet or from headers in the air to direct or redirect an insurance goal into the back of the net.  As the last 25 minutes approached, the Rams took more chances by pushing players forward and sending long balls into the Dayton defensive third to force the play and perhaps also capitalize on a Flyer mistake.  There were a few scary moments and once again Reda came up huge — she was never bombarded with shots on goal but remained busy all night commanding the goal box and being at her best in the most critical moments when the UD lead might have slipped away.  Once again, UD continued to win the stats but couldn’t extend the lead and put the match away for good. Several corner kick opportunities failed to generate anything dangerous as UD’s best success was slipping through the VCU back line.

The final 10 minutes were a flurry of activity as VCU did the full-send on pushing players forward to manufacture the equalizer.  It took a lot of defending, timely clearances, and some gamesmanship to salt the clock away, but it was mission accomplished after 90 minutes to keep the season alive and send VCU home for good. Dayton’s defensive unit of Kyra Karfonta, Ella Raimondi, Lauren Fields, and Bre Mendoza were locked in all evening. Golz used just two substitutions in the match: Emma Gianino and Liv Grenda. Smith’s presence was a good move as she and Blain provide a bit more wiggle and sizzle to counter the Rams’ pace.

UD led in second half shots 10-3 while corner kicks were 5-1.  The Flyers were the better squad between the goal boxes, more organized, and delivered a much better overall performance than the prior outing in October.  To VCU’s credit however, their style is not the greatest matchup for Dayton and it once again served them well in keeping both matches tight and entertaining.

Dayton remains at home for an A10 semifinal match against the second-lowest remaining seed (TBD) on Wednesday, Nov. 7th.  With a victory, UD would move to the A10 Championship game hosted by Saint Louis unless the Billikens failed to reach the title game. As the highest remaining seed, the Flyers would then host the title match on Sunday November 10th.

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