Taking care of business. That was the storyline Friday night as the Dayton Flyers fought their way to a hard-earned 3-1 victory of the St. Joseph’s Hawks at Baujan Field. Aesthetically, the contest wasn’t a work of beauty for either side, but Flyer forward R. J. Kaszuba found the back of the net just five minutes into the game to force the Hawks into catch-up mode the rest of the evening. Dayton improves to 9-3 (4-1) on the season — still undefeated at home — as they approach Sunday afternoon’s contest against Temple with eight wins in the last nine matches.

Kaszuba’s early goal turned out to be a score that changed the dynamics of the game. Kaszuba, the A-10’s leading scorer, collected the ball on the right side and blasted a shot from 16yds out that beat the SJU goalkeeper at the near post. While both sides were hustling and play was fairly competitive, St. Joseph’s never completely settled down after the early giveaway, and as a result, their game plan suffered. The Hawks, despite some struggles this year, are capable of a big game. Just days ago they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to #18 ranked Rhode Island. The Flyers took advantage of the early goal however and forced the Hawks into kick-and-run that never gave the visiting team a real chance.

Speed played a critical component in the game as both sides fielded players who were extremely fast and laterally quick. Sustained periods of ball possession were few and far between because of this and scoring opportunities came down to the squad who could catch a defender napping or possibly take advantage of a mental mistake. All four goals in the game fit this description.

Dayton came out of halftime with a 1-0 lead, but it was easy to see that a lone score wouldn’t be enough to win the game.

Thankfully, Lee Crawford found the nets in the first three minutes of the second half to give Dayton a 2-0 cushion that took the wind out of the Hawk’s wings. It wasn’t until the middle of the second half that SJU got on the board, beating a Flyer defender then striking a missile on the dead run that beat Flyer goalkeeper Matt Hutchins to the far post.

Just minutes after the Hawks got back into the game however, Dayton put them out of it again when SJU got called for a foul in the box that resulted in a penalty kick. Flyer forward Wade Fischer went low and to the right side to beat the keeper and finish out the game’s scoring. The final 20 minutes were fought hard but every Hawk scoring opportunity resulted in a shanked kick that sailed into the bricks of the Engineering Building.

Dayton had a point-blank shot hit the goalpost in the first half while R.J. Kaszuba had a second-half goal taken away on a hard challenge with the Hawk keeper. Kaszuba and the goalkeeper ran head-on for a loose ball 10yds from goal. Kaszuba outjmped the keepers arms and headed the ball into the net for the apparent score. The referee called a foul on Kaszuba however and issued him a yellow card for the challenge. In short, the referee blew the call. Dayton finished the contest with a 16-8 shot advantage, but St. Joseph’s had a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks.

The Flyers weren’t as sharp as they’ve been recently, but SJU may have had a part in that. SJU can beat anyone in the league on a given day and have shown in the past to be a Jekyll and Hyde squad. Midfielder Eric Nelson did a nice job of controlling things in the midfield when the Flyers needed to settle the ball, and for his efforts, earns the UDPride Player of the Game.

While the Flyers were clearly the better team, it’s a win the coaching staff is glad to have behind them. Dayton will get a chance on Sunday afternoon at 1pm to sharpen their passes, develop more possession, and attack the open space as Temple visits Baujan Field for a matinee. The Owls weren’t expected to do much this year and have proved critics right by winning just one of their first 10 games. The Owls are scoring less than a goal a game which means Dayton should have little trouble disposing of them and picking up a 10th victory. SJU beat Temple 6-1 earlier in the season.