DAYTON (OH) — As losses go, this one was about as soft as it gets. The Dayton Flyers fell behind early, took the lead, then squandered three second half goals in a thoroughly disappointing (and rare) 4-2 home defeat to the Central Michigan Chippewas. Dayton falls to 3-2 on the season while CMU improves to 3-1.

The match couldn’t have started any more aggravating as Dayton quickly showed themselves to be the better team shortly after kickoff. But all that mattered very little when UD lollygagged a midfield loose-ball challenge, surrendering possession and field position just two minutes in. CMU attacker Caely Schlosser accepted the gratuity kindly, took a couple dribbles, and chipped an uncontested shot over GK Jordin Melchert to the far post for the early 1-0 Chippewa advantage. Neither the defending nor the goalkeeping made CMU work for the goal, a running theme that would repeat itself several times over the remaining 87 minutes of the match.

But let’s not lose sight of the fact that Dayton was still the better team in spite of the early deficit. UD had better possession, more spacing, better tactics, and more talented players in the offense to tie the match and eventually out-score the opposition.

The next 20 minutes were mostly in Dayton’s favor as UD did quite well on offense to move the ball upfield and get players in scoring position inside the CMU goal box. The Flyers were pressuring and threatening — mostly on the solid play of junior Juliana Libertin and senior Colleen Williams offering up a blue-collar work ethic.

The persistence eventually paid off in the 26th minute when Williams suckered defenders asleep, then pushed a ball to the baseline for a picture-perfect near-post cross. Recently substituted in, freshman Ashley Campbell made the near-post run she needed to deflect it into the net from 3yds out to tie the match at 1-1.

The last 20 minutes of the first half tailed off however in UD’s back line; they began showing signs of cracking under pressure. While both sides had their chances –including a couple Flyer shots that hit the woodwork — the match reached halftime still tied up. Overall, UD’s offense created plenty of chances and were a bit unlucky to only score once. Things looked well in hand provided UD could keep CMU out of the net.

Halftime stats favored UD in shots 8-5 and corner kicks 3-0.

The opening minutes of the second half was not UD’s best effort however. CMU started winning most of the loose balls in the midfield — including a majority of the high balls off of clears and free kicks. Unable to control the midfield, Dayton had no choice but to defend and chase.

Fortunately, Williams, the All-American, finished off an All-American sequence by beating two CMU defenders in the box and then sandbagged the Chippewa goalkeeper for a short-distance finish to put Dayton up 2-1 in the 66th minute. It was a terrific play of skill and heart — something Williams showcased for much of the night.

Playing with the lead for the first time, UD seemed in control of the match with 25 minutes remaining. After Willy’s tally however, the wheels completely fell off.

CMU tied the match at 2-2 in the 70th minute on a terrible error inside the Dayton box that resulted from miscommunication from Melchert and her back line. The equalizer was effectively a gift, something fans swallowed twice on during last weekend’s 5-2 win against Northwestern.

The Chips weren’t done however and neither was the Flyer D. CMU almost added another goal when Melchert mishandled a routine ball in the box and subsequently took out the CMU striker for what would have been a certain PK. Fortunately, CMU was called offside and spared the Flyers. But the good fortune didn’t last long.

CMU made it 3-2 in the 82nd minute on another defensive gaff that should have been quite routine. Not to be outdone, the back line got beat easily in the 86th minute for a well-struck — albeit wide open — look from 15 yards out that also found little resistance from the goalie.

Down 4-2 with four minutes left, this one was over.

For the match, UD was out-shot 17-16 but won the battle of corner kicks 4-0.

By any measure, this result was a hair-raising disappointment. Not because the loss itself throws the entire season into flux — it doesn’t. It’s still one match in a season of many matches. It was the manner in which Dayton lost however that cannot be ignored. The Flyers should have been 2-3 goals better than CMU on any field and on any night. To surrender four goals to a foe of CMU’s talent (solid but unspectacular) — at least three of which were bona-fide gifts — speaks to the level of liability the Dayton defense is quickly becoming. Combined with the match against Northwestern, UD has gift-wrapped five goals in their sleigh. There’s no offense in the country talented enough to overcome gaffs long-term in those kinds of quantities.

Offensively, Dayton was pretty solid on Friday night. While UD left a couple more goals off the scoreboard, they did score twice — which should have been plenty to beat the likes of Central Michigan. With a little more luck, UD scores three or four goals — yet even that wouldn’t have secured the win.

Williams and Libertin were workhorses all night and left it all on the field. Freshman Ashley Campbell provided a much-needed boost in work-rate when she subbed in mid-way through the first and second halfs. Leslie Chilton — another frosh — provided more energy and worked extremely hard along the left flanks in her minutes off the bench.

For all the good these three or four grunts offered however (enough goodness that should have won the match), the remainder of the team let them down with a half-hearted effort of timid tackling, weak clears, abysmal throw-ins, and enough defensive give-aways to last half a season.

The problem began in the midfield with suspect work rates inside the center circle to win loose balls and provide a modest level of physicality and resistance. Dayton got beat to the ball, out-muscled off the ball, and out-jumped for headers — mostly by CMU players of smaller size. While the UD back line was inept all night and goalkeeping was no better, much of the despair started in the midfield where Dayton did not perform preventive maintenance to avoid the disastrous possibilities altogether. The absence of MF Alexis Garcia — serving a one-game suspension for a red car — did not help the cause. But her absence is just an excuse and nothing more.

And that’s where UD needs to focus on first: preventive maintenance. In other words, doing the dirty work early in the run of play to avoid having to fend of dangerous attacks with Herculean efforts inside the box. Until that happens, the leaking sieve remains wide open.

UD gets after it again on Sunday afternoon against DePaul.