DAYTON (OH) — The Dayton Flyers posted their second blank sheet of the weekend with a convincing 3-0 victory over Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon at Baujan Field. Dayton scored twice in the first half and once in the second to pace the win, keeping their unbeaten regular season alive with two A10 matches to play. The Flyers are 12-0-5 (8-0-1) while UMass falls to 4-10-2 (3-6).

The opening moments of the match couldn’t have started more favorably for UD as Mike Tucker’s squad jumped on UMass in the second minute with a textbook cross and finish directly in front of the goal mouth for the 1-0 lead. Lauren MacCormick’s near post run polished off quality service from Colleen Williams and Cara Cornacchia to set up the score.

UMass, outmatched in all areas before the game kicked off, found themselves in the worst possible position with 88 minutes left to play. Without the tools to compete against Dayton, their only hope was a bunker game plan and a lot of crossed fingers. Down a goal early on however, even those remote hopes and dreams were pretty much on ice.

As the first half resumed, the Flyers did everything they wanted, when they wanted, however they chose to do it. The only hangup in UD’s attack or defensive security were the UD players themselves when casual play slowed the domination. But that was few and far between in the first 45 minutes as Dayton knocked the ball around with aplomb and pinched up to midfield to pin the Minutewomen into a defensive posture they had trouble crawling out of. Time and again, the wings were left wide open by suspect UMass defenders allowing far too much space for the UD mids and forwards. Dayton did a nice job of exploiting the free space, sending numerous balls in the box or dribbling forward with pace to apply pressure on the UMass goal mouth.

Without much of an attack, UMass’ only scoring hopes came on quick counters or sloppy work by the Flyer back line — the latter rarely seen all season. Dayton wasn’t as sharp in the back and hospital balls or poor communication almost cost UD a goal midway through the first half. On a couple other occasions, UD gave UMass a chance to stick a cheapie in the net. The Flyers were fortunate however and raw talent or playmaking at essential times usually won out.

The Flyers opened up a 2-0 lead in the 17th minute on a terrific individual effort by senior Mandi Back. She took the ball near the left corner flag, turned the corner, and beat a pair of defenders as she carried along the end line. With seemingly no angle for a shot on goal, Back managed to slip it inside the near post to the surprise of everyone.

By halftime, the Flyers were dominating in all phases and Massachusetts felt blessed to be down just a goal — it could have easily been 3-0. Halftime stats favored Dayton 14-5 in shots and 7-0 in corner kicks.

The second half cooled off a bit, but Dayton was never threatened. Any hope of a UMass comeback for the ages went belly up just two minutes after the restart when Back added her second goal of the match from a great through ball from Kelly Blumenschein to set her loose. Down 3-0, the Minutewomen saw the writing on the wall and basically mailed it in.

The ensuring possession of the second half was controlled by the Flyers as UMass continued to showcase little dynamic playmaking ability or individual foot skills to adequately compete. Dayton cut around UMass players with the dribble and found teammates lurking in space; UMass chased and performed damage control.

As the half wore on, Dayton eased up on the gas but also got a bit sloppy. That lack of precision probably kept the Flyers from blowing it open and winning by five or six goals. In their defense however, Tucker began emptying the bench midway through the second half to spread the minutes around. While the Flyers failed to score in the final 43 minutes of play, there wasn’t much left to play for (besides a shutout) considering the result was no longer up for grabs.

By match end, UD earned a 22-7 advantage in shots and 9-1 domination from the corner flag.

Sophomore Emily Kenyon had a nice performance, using her foot skills and speed to open up the offense. The same goes for Colleen Williams, a freshman with a knack turning a corner and providing decent service in the box. Cara Cornacchia stepped up in the midfield to keep the pace at a favorable tempo.

The Flyers finished off another successful weekend with a pair of shutouts and two more wins on the season. UMass was disappointing in all phases and demonstrated no resemblance to the UMass program of old that used to be an A10 showpiece. Goalkeeping was an especially weak area along with defensive marking. UD smelled blood from the opening whistle and knew it was a mismatch.

Just two A10 matches remain. A make-up match at St. Bonaventure and a home date with Xavier. The Flyers will be favored in both games and should Tucker’s squad finish the season unbeaten at 14-0-5 (10-0-1), they would likely tie #25 Charlotte for the regular season title. Unless Charlotte falls prey to an upset, the 49ers are almost assured of the top seed in the A10 Tournament by virtue of goals scored. In the regular season, UD and Charlotte tied 0-0. Assuming things play out as described, a Flyer loss in the A10 tournament would be their only defeat of the season. It would be difficult for the NCAA selection committee to leave out Dayton as a one-loss team when handing out at-large berths.

While UD’s strength of schedule is not great and there are no marquee wins, the lack of defeats and the nation’s stingiest defense should receive strong consideration. Of course, winning out and taking the A10 tournament title is what Flyer players, coaches, and fans are hoping for.