The Dayton seniors on this year’s roster — Stacy DeLuca, Nina DiGuardi, Erin Showalter, Shannon Kuhl, Judi Aschenbrener, and Beth McHugh — capped their home career on a winning note as they helped the Flyers outscrap the Fordham Rams for a hard-fought 3-1 victory before 503 fans at Baujan Field. With the win, UD finished their home schedule undefeated at 5-0-1 and improves their overall record to 11-5-1 (7-2) while Fordham — now behind 2nd place Dayton in the A-10 standings — falls to 9-5-2 (5-2-2). Jessica Melvin scored two goals and Kuhl added the final tally on the afternoon in a match that was much closer than the score indicated.

With Senior Day festivities out of the way, the Flyers were ready to go early in the match and put considerable pressure on the Fordham defensive half of the field. The Rams showed themselves to be a crafty side however and with several players capable of playing with the caliber of Dayton’s, were able to counter UD’s pressure with some pressure of their own — at least until they reached the Flyer 18yd box. It was Dayton who struck first however on a bizarre play in the 12th minute when Ram goalkeeper Shannon Misiaszek exited the goal mouth to challenge a through ball that Jessica Melvin tried to run down. Misiaszek drilled the ball right into Melvin however and the ball caromed 15yds in the other direction, threading the pipes for the first score of the game. With a lot at stake in Sunday’s match — first and foremost a first-round bye in the Atlantic-10 tournament, Dayton’s early lead was just what the doctored ordered. But it wouldn’t last long.

Fordham capitalized on a defensive mistake and some Flyer bad luck in the 20th minute — perhaps poetic justice in light of Melvin’s first score — when the Flyers failed to clear a ball in the box, another defender slipped and unfortunately took the Fordham player down with her. Head referee Mike Salyers felt a penalty kick was due which was a shame for Dayton since the Ram player had her back to goal and wasn’t in a scoring position. Nevertheless the rule book is clear and Sarah Hopkins converted the PK to tie the match at 1-1. It was eerily similar in some respects to the circumstances surrounding Dayton’s match with LaSalle on Friday when UD gave up an equalizer not long after a Dayton goal. Like LaSalle, Fordham hadn’t done much in the Flyer penalty box up to this point. But unlike LaSalle, Fordham was putting a lot together in the middle third of the field and by all accounts a much tougher foe.

Dayton continued to have the better of play in the first half, but the Rams were making the Flyers work hard for everything and at times made some excellent plays of their own to make the match competitive and entertaining. As the half wore on, earned more chances and put several balls in the Ram penalty box, helped in part by a half dozen corner kicks that led to a 9-2 advantage in shots. Misiaszek fumbled the ball a couple of times and UD nearly added a go-ahead goal before intermission, but the ball either hit a Ram defender or sailed just wide. One cross from the left side even kissed off the crossbar. All told, Dayton was the better side, but not dominating. But it wasn’t because they were playing poorly. Rather, Fordham made a game of it because they have talent and both sides were working extremely hard in the hustle department that made for some exciting soccer for the Flyer Faithful.

Things only got better in the second half and with the score knotted at 1-1, the first team to score would probably have enough defensive bunker abilities to salt a one-goal lead away by milking the clock. The match grew very physical and the Flyer coaching staff urged their team on like a jockey urging his horse down the final stretch. The intensity went up and so did Dayton’s offensive show, much of the credit falling on the shoulders of Jessica Melvin, a light-weighted player who played with a heavy tire iron in her hand all afternoon. Using her speed and quickness, she provided Dayton’s frontrunning target and when the Flyers seemed poised to get something done offensively, Melvin always seemed to be the catalyst. But she had help. Junior Tesia Kozlowski and sophomore Katie Lowstuter earned their pay in the midfield and won possession on loose balls that kept Fordham from moving forward with dangerous chances. Behind those two, Nina DiGuardi played equally huge, earning her pay with key defensive winners in the air and her usual tough tackling in the back line. As the half wore on, Fordham got more physical and for a while it seemed to throw Dayton off their game a bit. That’s when the coaching staff once again asked for a little more and the Flyers obliged. With UD putting several shots on goal, it was only a matter of time before they would come up with the eventual game-winner if they kept the pressure on. That’s exactly what happened in the 78th minute when Melvin once again came through, knocking in a loose ball in front of the Fordham box to give Dayton a 2-1 lead. An assist was credited to Shannon Kuhl and Kuhl would tack on an insurance goal in the 85th minute to polish off the Rams and end things at 3-1. For the match, UD outshot Fordham 26-4 and had a 9-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The Flyers were in a dogfight all afternoon, but unlike Friday night, played much better and did so against a team that has darkhorse written all over them in the A-10 tournament. The Rams probably lack the dynamic ability to win the tournament, but they are a quality side with enough skill and soccer IQ to knock off a team or two if the right situation presents itself. But it wasn’t enough on Sunday because the Flyers gave a great effort in the hustle department and seemingly played with a chip on their shoulder. What that chip might have been is anyone’s guess, but perhaps the six seniors had something to do with it as they played before the home fans for the final time in their careers. Each of them are part of a class that earned three A-10 regular season titles, two A-10 tourney titles, and a Sweet-16 appearance in the NCAAs. Whatever it was, the energy was infectious and when McHugh — with a bum leg and operating at only 50% of her potential — can stick her nose into things and continue to do dirty work, it inevitably rubs off on the underclassmen.

The Flyers have one regular season road trip remaining as they travel to Duquesne and St. Bonaventure next weekend. UD should be heavy favorites and if they play like they did on Sunday, neither opponent has the goods to pull off the upset. Dayton has been up and down at times this year, but Sunday was all up. There’s still a lot of soccer left, and we’ll know in good time if UD is working on some unfinished business.