DAYTON (OH) — A long flight home and quick turnaround after Friday night’s 1-1 tie to Auburn University proved a non-factor as the Dayton Flyers opened the 2009 home schedule with a convincing 4-0 victory over Middle Tennessee State. Early goals by Jerica DeWolfe and Lauren MacCormick put UD out in front to stay, while the back line posted their second shutout of the season. Dayton improves to 2-0-1 while MTSU drops their first match of the season to fall to 3-1.

The Blue Raiders came into the match outscoring opponents 17-2, including an overtime win over Wright State just two days prior. Ranked 10th in the NSCAA South Region, MTSU provided a quality opponent from a conference (Sun Belt) that doesn’t get a lot of recognition. Fortunately for the Flyers, the match could not have started better.

Just two minutes after the opening whistle, midfielder Jerica DeWolfe crossed up a Blue Raider defender and opened up space for a 20yd bullet to the near post. The shot snuck under the crossbar as MTSU goalkeeper Rebecca Cushing provided little resistance to the great strike from long range. Up 1-0 before the players had broken a sweat, Dayton capitalized on the opportunity to control the run of play and force MTSU to chase from behind.

The Flyers worked the ball around the field extremely well over the next 10 minutes and applied significant pressure on the Blue Raider goal mouth. The weak side was open all afternoon and junior Kelly Blumenschein used it to her advantage when the service was good, though UD missed her floating unmarked for longer stretches of the first half. The central midfielders did a nice job of stepping up for loose balls and jump-starting the attack near midfield, establishing a strong possession advantage that kept MTSU from collecting the ball and countering.

Lauren MacCormick pushed her frame around the attacking third and played the target forward role. The work paid off in the 14th minute when MacCormick collected a ball near the six yard box, spun, and pasted a shot to the back of the net to give Dayton a 2-0 lead.

The Blue Raiders had a great chance to get on the scoreboard later on when a striker was taken down just outside the box. The professional foul nearly cost the Flyers a penalty kick but ended up saving a goal as the resulting free kick went wide.

Forward Mandi Back had perhaps the best scoring chance of the afternoon mid-way through the first half when she broke loose for a one vs. one with the goalkeeper. The chance was so good it may have caused her to take it too casually as the shot bounced off the near post. The Flyers kept the pressure on however and put several quality corner kicks into the box that were turned away.

The back-breaker came just before halftime when Blumenschein scored from the top of the box to put the Flyers up 3-0 in the 43rd minute.

Halftime stats were dominated by the Flyers. Dayton led in shots (18-4) and corner kicks (4-0). Defensively, the veteran back line was never seriously threatened. Freshman goalkeeper Katherine Boone wasn’t asked to do much but when she needed to, came off her line quickly and looked confident.

Up 3-0, Middle Tennessee needed the second half of a lifetime to pull even, let alone steal a second road victory in two days. To their credit, the Blue Raiders showed much better form over the final 45 minutes. Unable to win possession and work the ball upfield in the first half, improved midfield play allowed them to get forward. While they never peppered the Flyer goal mouth with crosses or shots, they did counter-attack well on a couple of occasions that required some solid defensive work and goalkeeping by the Flyer defense. Conversely, UD lost shape on offense for long stretches of the second half. Teammates bunching up combined with less accurate first touches kept Dayton from challenging the goal as they did in the first half. The play was by no means poor, but did lack urgency.

MTSU’s best scoring chance came in the middle of the second half when a shot from long distance kissed off the crossbar. Loose Flyer marks gave them a couple more chances in front of the box, but all of the good looks were off balance and from long distance.

Dayton’s depth and overall talent wore down Middle Tennessee in the final minutes; the Flyers went 20 deep. DeWolfe notched her second goal of the day and third of the season on a redirected header resulting from a corner kick in the 78th minute. Up 4-0, that’s how the match ended.

Dayton outshot MTSU 29-7 and doubled up on corner kicks 6-3. For the first home game of the season and a decent opponent, the result was impressive.

Sophomore Shan Jones, MSTU’s go-to player on offense, never got on track and was hounded all afternoon by the Flyer back line. The 2008 Sun Belt Rookie of the Year and 1st Team All Sun-Belt player had good speed but not enough muscle to push her way through Kelsey Miller, Allison Giner, and Kathleen Beljan. Much of that was the result of God-given ability.

Freshman Alexis Garcia continues to impress with every touch of the ball. In the absence of Colleen Gibson, Garcia has stepped in and demonstrated great form. Her first touches, instincts, and ball-handling are high quality. We hate making predictions, but say hello to the future of Flyer soccer.

Dayton travels to “The U” next weekend for a doubleheader in Coral Gables, FL. Matches against Navy (a traditionally solid program) and Western Carolina stand in the way of a 4-0-1 start to the season. The Flyers should be heavy favorites in both matches.

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