With more shots on goal, the Flyers had an easier time of things against the George Washington Colonials Sunday night, earning their ninth victory of the season before a strong crowd of 973 fans at Baujan Field. Dayton improves to 9-3 (3-1) while GW falls to 5-6 (2-2).

The Flyers controlled the match from the opening kickoff and, unlike most of the season, found ways to get shots on goal rather than spraying them off the buildings that border the east and west ends of Baujan Field. And because of this, the Colonials had to work extra hard to keep the game scoreless. Against UMass last weekend, Dayton took a lot of shots but couldn’t keep them between the pipes. Not so on Friday night as Dayton knocked on the door for the entire first half. That knocking paid off just six minutes gone when sweeper Erin Showalter placed a long through-ball down the middle of the field that senior Liz Brown took in stride and outlegged a defender. The GW goalkeeper charged but Brown put something on it from 18 yards out and rolled it into the net for the first score of the match.

Dayton continued to knock the ball around and move the attack up field, placing many balls in the box on crosses from the flank and counterattacks up the middle. Several scrums just in front of the goal weren’t enough for the Flyers to find a second goal of the half, but Dayton continued to put pressure on and as long as the shots remained on goal, the chances were good for more scoring in the final 45 minutes. As halftime came, Dayton held a 14-2 advantage in shots while keeping GW’s offense completely in check. Up top, Liz Brown, Judi Aschenbrener, and Tesia Kozlowski were primary reasons for the offensive assault, while the mids and defenders pushed forward enough to lock GW into a defensive stance for much of the half.

The second half was more of the same, with the exception of about 10 minutes midway through when the Colonials found some ball possession and pushed a few players forward. A couple crosses in the box and breakaways by speedy GW forward Kim Warner couldn’t beat the UD defense and GK Steph Weisenfeld. On either side of GW’s short spell of decent soccer, it was all Dayton though. The Flyers were quicker with the ball and winning the loose ball challenges to earn possession. Like most games, the team who controls the ball usually wins and that was never more apparent. While Dayton continued to put shots on goal however, the GW defense remained stubborn and the score held at 1-0, giving the Colonials hope that a quick goal could change the direction of the match — and that’s why they continued to play hard. Fortunately, the Flyers put things away in the 81st minute when Lindsey Whitehead found the back of the net from six yards out to make the score 2-0 to end GW’s chances.

For the match, Dayton outshot GW by a count of 28-3. The important stat however was shots on goal. Managing just five or six on the same number of shots in the UMass game, Dayton put 15 on goal Friday night (13 saves, 2 goals). Colonial GK Kelly Paolucci came up with several good saves, otherwise the Flyers would have scored a couple more times. Flyer GK Steph Weisenfeld had very little to do all night and other than a couple potentially dangerous crosses, never broke a sweat. She finished the game with just one save. The shot disparity aside, Dayton must find the back of the net more often against the weaker teams on the schedule, and that includes most of the foes in the Atlantic-10. Near misses and close encounters will eventually catch up with the offense when they go up against a conference foe a little more stubborn defensively. That team could very well be Richmond, who comes to town on Sunday for a 1pm kickoff. The Spiders dropped a tough match at Xavier Friday night and could be looking for something to prove, while the Flyers must keep pace with Rhode Island and hope the Rams eventually stumble before the end of the season. The Flyer defense continues to get the job done, giving the offense a chance to win games. Before long however, Dayton will need to win a game by a score of 4-3. That’s something fans have yet to see. Even though the defense has been good, the Flyers are 0-2 when giving up two goals. The team hasn’t been far off all year. If Dayton learns to finish all their chances — and getting chances is half the battle — Richmond and the rest of the foes will have a tough time getting past the Flyers.