DAYTON (OH) — The UD men’s and women’s soccer teams double-dipped at Baujan Field Friday evening as the women opened up with a 0-0 double overtime draw with league contender Charlotte, while the men overpowered Rhode Island 4-0 in convincing fashion.

DAYTON 0 CHARLOTTE 0 (2 OT)

The A10 favorites clashed in a pivotal matchup with very little settled after 110 minutes of play. The 49ers, sporting a 5-0 career record against Dayton, came into the match at 10-2-0 and an unblemished mark in league play. The Flyers were one of just three schools in the country still undefeated. That remains the case as UD now stands at 8-0-5 on the season despite out-shooting Charlotte 30-11 and dominating from the corner flag.

The match started well for the Flyers as they pushed forward and looked quicker to the ball. Meanwhile, the 49ers took the better part of 10 minutes to find their legs and settle in. Dayton took the long-ball approach to manufacture offense while Charlotte had better luck moving the ball around with deliberate passing through the midfield. As the half continued, Charlotte’s methodology appeared more likely to generate scoring chances, but the Flyers did well to find space and put balls into the mixer. Unfortunately, many of UD’s scoring chances were also ambitious shots from long range that lacked quality pace or placement to seriously threaten.

By the middle and latter part of the half, the run of play evened out. Charlotte superstar Whitney Weinraub — the most dangerous attacking player in the league with an A10-best nine goals on the season — battled up top against the tough Flyer defense of Allison Giner, Kelsey Miller, and Kathleen Beljan. At times the battles were a treat for fans and UD did a great job of keeping her in check. The defense bent and flexed when it needed to, posting a first half shutout as the offense tried to find the back of the net.

At halftime, the Flyers led 8-4 in shots and 2-1 in corner kicks.

The second half was more of a struggle for Dayton. Charlotte picked up their game and showed better form over the next 30 minutes. Working the ball on the ground and linking up better in the midfield — especially transitioning from defense to offense — the 49ers began seizing control of possession. All of the hard work had little to show for it however as UD’s defense once again rose to the challenge and turned away scoring opportunities. Some of Charlotte’s chances were quite good, but the Flyers had a boot or defensive header in response.

Dayton’s offensive strategy consisted of challenging the goal mouth from long distance. Those shots helped the Flyers lead in stats, but most of the chances were not great and didn’t force the 49er goalkeeper to put in some honest work.

The last five minutes of regulation is where the matched ultimately changed direction for good. Dayton got their second wind and won a series of corner kicks to sneak in a game winner before the clock expired. The chances were there, but the finishing was not.

The first and second overtimes were dominated completely by the Flyers and while UD never managed to score, they did finish the match playing their best soccer of the evening. Most of the action was in the Charlotte defensive half over the extra 20 minutes as UD won most of the loose balls in the midfield to keep the pressure on. Dayton out-shot Charlotte 12-3 in overtime play and earned four corner kicks, but the season-long struggle to generate goals on a consistent basis ultimately kept the match scoreless.

In spite of the frustration, the Flyers played hard and did so many things right. It was an entertaining match between the two best sides in the A10 and the conference race may come down to which team gags against an inferior opponent first. Can both sides run the table, tie for the conference title, and do enough to earn an NCAA at-large bid? Much work remains for that to happen. The 49ers might be a half step ahead. On the other hand, Dayton is the only team on Charlotte’s schedule thus far to hold them scoreless in a match.

UD is back in action on Sunday against St. Louis in the second match of another doubleheader. The Billikens may not be quite as strong as recent years but still field a tough team. Dayton must finish well on offense and win the game in order to force Charlotte to keep pace.

DAYTON 4 RHODE ISLAND 0

This is not your father’s Rhode Island Rams men’s soccer team. That said, the Flyers came to play and thoroughly outclassed URI 4-0 under constant rainfall at soggy Baujan Field in the Friday evening nightcap. Isaac Kissi notched a hat trick in the effort as UD won their sixth straight game to improve to 6-3-1 (1-0). The Rams fall to 3-6-1 (0-1).

Kissi got things started early in the match with a nifty header from 20 yards out from the long ball service of Tommy Watkins. Ram goalkeeper Chris Pennock found himself in No Man’s Land and unable to challenge Kissi in front, leaving the goal wide open for the terrific re-direct to the far post.

Up 1-0 early on, Dayton had the luxury of settling in. Rhode Island was forced to play from behind however and press the issue before the match got too far away to recover. Some of that nervousness seemed to affect URI for the remainder of the half and the entire second half as the Flyers kept the pedal down. Winning loose balls all over and finding holes in the Ram defense, Dayton had numerous chances inside the offensive third of the field to make the score 2-0.

The Flyers took advantage of a foul from the URI goalkeeper to put away a penalty kick in the 32nd minute for the 2-0 lead. The foul came just inside the box as Pennock lost control of the ball and was forced to challenge a player and not the ball. As far as calls go, it was somewhat soft given the circumstances, but Kissi polished off the PK to keep the Dayton momentum in high gear.

Rhode Island largely fell apart over the rest of the half, but did have one of the best scoring chances of the half with a nice give-and-go near the right side of the box that forced UD goalkeeper Tyler Picard to make a Franz Beckenbauer-quality save at the far post.

Halftime stats were pretty even. Both sides had eight shots on goal while URI had three corner kicks to UD’s zero.

The second half was all Dayton. The work rate and passionate challenges for loose balls aggravated Rhode Island for the last 45 minutes. The Rams lost their cool at times and began unraveling as the match got away from them. Without any composure to rely on, URI had little left in the tank. Meanwhile, UD looked fresh and more than willing to add to the score.

The best goal of the match came in the 64th minute when senior Alex Torda beat a defender on the right side, cut the ball back, and knocked a perfect cross to the far post for Evan McCreary to finish off with an emphatic header. It was textbook soccer and the proverbial nail in the coffin. The only thing Rhode Island could tally were repeated bookings from the referee. Late tackles or unsportsmanlike conduct were to blame.

Kissi earned his hat trick in the 86th minute to give UD a 4-0 lead and round out the scoring. It was Kissi’s sixth goal of the season.

Despite the inclement weather and rain-soaked field, UD played at a high level for 90 minutes and demonstrated good form both offensively and defensively. Picard had a great game in goal and never strayed away from his line when a timely save or clearance was needed. Hustle for loose balls was the difference in the match however. Zach Weiss and Ben Murray did Yeoman work in the midfield to change the game where it counted.

The Flyers are on a roll. Winners of six straight, they go for seven in a row on Sunday afternoon against league contender UMass. If UD can get past UMass and improve to 7-3-1, they give themselves an honest chance of making a run at the A10 regular season title with the great league start.