The Dayton Flyers discovered what had been missing all season Friday night at Baujan Field, that is, outclassing the opposition in the first half. However, the typical strong showing in the second half Flyer fans have been accustomed to all year didn’t happen and Head Coach Mike Tucker’s team had to fight off a pesky St. Bonaventure squad toward the end for a 1-0 victory. The win puts the Flyers at 8-4 (3-1) heading into Sunday afternoon’s home game against Duquesne. The Bonnies fall to 3-6-2 (1-2-1).

Friday’s contest was a reverse-microcosm of the season thus far as Dayton gave their best performance in the opening half and struggled to find themselves after intermission. The first half was among the best sequences of the season for the Flyers. The home team controlled 90% of the possession game and had the Bonnies chasing the ball all over the field. The Flyers possessed the ball for several minutes at a time, knocking the play from strong side to weak side to set up midfielders and defenders who were overlapping to take advantage of the open field. Dayton had chances, or more specifically, had chances to makes chances, but the Flyers — despite their first half domination — never played quick enough to really make the Bonnies pay.

Dayton’s lone goal of the contest came in the waning moments of the first half as Sarah Walker crossed a ball in the goal mouth that found the foot of Missy Showtime Gregg. After a brief moment of helter-skelter, Gregg found a seam and slipped it past the St. Bonaventure goalkeeper for the eventual game-winner.

The Flyers were poised to break things open in the second half if their passing and decision-making were a step quicker, but the Bonnies breathed a second life after intermission and started winning loose-ball challenges in the middle of the field. Once Dayton lost a bit of grip, St. Bonaventure gained confidence and managed to move the ball upfield for a few scoring chances. While the Bonnies didn’t score, their chances were good enough to potentially steal the game on a single Flyer breakdown.

As the second half began winding down, the Flyers had better luck pushing the ball up the leftfield side in the neighborhood of freshman forward Kara Kenney. Kenney made good things happen all night and created most of Dayton’s serious scoring chances on the evening. Dayton got a break when a Bonnie got whistled for tripping inside the penalty box and the Flyers were awarded a penalty kick. Missy Gregg missed wide on the PK and Dayton had to fight tooth-and-nail to the end to preserve the victory.

While the victory had its ups and downs, and most would argue that Dayton should have had an easier time of it, the Flyer first half was among the best possession periods of the season and is something to build on. Second, the strong play of Kara Kenney was encouraging as she took the ball north-south several times on the evening to put Dayton on the attack. On a couple occasions she showcased her excellent foot skills with clever jukes and jives that left defenders grabbing for air. Kenney is without question making substantial strides in her brief college career and is the unanimous choice for the UDPride Player of the Game.

The Flyer defense, anchored by three freshmen — Beth McHugh, Erin Showalter, and Nina DiGuardi — held tough all evening and thwarted those few chances St. Bonaventure had when Dayton lost possession in the midfield. Mike Tucker’s proverbial Ministry of Defense should only get better as the young players continue to gain experience.

While the Flyers outshot the Bonnies 22-2, the number is misleading. Most of Dayton’s chances were from long-range and never seriously threatened the net. Because of this, Bonnie goalkeeper Karen Cunningham made just eight saves. UD’s Stephanie Weisenfeld made two saves. The Flyers owned a 9-0 advantage on corner kicks as well. A crowd of 1,121 fans — the fifth-largest in UD soccer history — braved the cold temperatures and biting wind to cheer the Flyers to victory.

The Flyers didn’t play poorly and they didn’t play their best, but any victory is a good one and as the season continues, 1-0 triumphs are becoming just as sweet as 3-0 wins. Dayton must continue to beat A-10 foes in hopes of capturing the top seed in the postseason conference tournament and the all important regular season title. There’s no question that Mike Tucker’s team is still the favorite, but everyone is gunning for them which means the Flyers must put together 90 minutes of soccer that leave other teams without a fleeting hope of winning — nevermind a legitimate chance.

Dayton hosts Duquesne Sunday afternoon at 1pm.