There are two schools of thought when a team thoroughly outplays someone. On one hand, one team plays incredibly well and forces the opposition into a bad effort. On the other hand, the opposition mails it in and makes things easy for an opponent. Wednesday night’s 3-0 victory Xavier in the home and conference opener was probably a little bit of both, but Dayton had more to do with things as they put forth outstanding soccer and whipped up on their conference nemesis in surprisingly easy fashion. UD improves to 2-3 while XU falls to 0-4 and has yet to score in 2001. With 1-0 losses to Minnesota, Indiana, and Marshall in Xavier’s first three games, Dayton’s performance appears to be a good one.

Dayton took control of the game early in the first half and never really let go. They were quicker to the ball, stringing a number of passes together, and finding the open space better than the Muskies. Xavier looked a step slow all night and played defensive for much of the first half due to an inability to mount an effective offensive attack. Reeling from three consecutive losses to start the season — all shutouts — XU needed to score in the worst way Wednesday night, but the chances weren’t there and when things seemed ripe for an offensive transition, the Flyer defense snuffed it out.

Freshman midfielder Tesia Kozlowski had a great chance to give Dayton an early 1-0 lead on a dribble up field that beat two or three defenders. Unfortunately, she passed over a wide open shot and elected to leave the ball for a teammate on the flank and Dayton never got off a shot. More opportunities came and went including a one on one with XU goalkeeper Megan Veith when she was forced out of her box. The Flyers slipped a ball past her and tried to pound it in, but couldn’t get it past the feet of a couple XU defenders standing near the goal line. Despite having the better of things, the half ended deadlocked at 0-0.

The second half started where the first ended and UD jumped on the Muskies quickly. The possession game was 80% in the Flyers’ favor and forced XU to do a lot of running to make up for lost position on the field.

Dayton’s weak spot has been finishing scoring opportunities in prior games and as the second half wore on, they needed to show fans that progress is being made or else a 0-0 tie was on the horizon. The Flyers answered the question after Bridget Bushman fought hard for a ball in the right corner and sent a great cross into the box that sophomore Shannon Kuhl finished off with a header in the 49th minute. Up 1-0, Dayton kept the heat on but the Muskies nearly knotted things at 1-1 when a super head ball off a XU corner kick tested Flyer goalkeeper Steph Weisenfeld. Weisenfeld made a fingertip save near the crossbar while on her heels and tipped the ball to herself to snuff out the equalizer. While she was hardly tested all night, the save would have snuck past other goalkeepers and made the game quite interesting.

Dayton put the game away with six minutes to go when Megan McKnight blasted home a rebound off the Muskie GK and into a wide open goalmouth after the Flyers mounted a breakaway that got past the defense. Beth McHugh, a defender a season ago now playing forward, notched her first goal of her career in the final minute on another breakaway that forced the keeper out. With nothing but an open goal in front of her, she tucked it away from the far left side of the box to round out the scoring. For McHugh, who leads the team in shots, it was good to finally see her put one in and perhaps it will remove the monkey off the back. She’s had several strong scoring chances in the past but just missed out.

Without question, the Flyers looked solid and played perhaps their best soccer of the year — taking into account the strong showing against Miami (OH) in the lone exhibition. Xavier looked lost on the field and with the departure of All Everything Annette Gruber and All Conference player Erin Coley, the Muskies had minimal offensive punch all night. XU returned their entire defense in tact from a year ago that set a school record for shutouts, but it looked equally unorganized at times and questionable marking in the central midfield left Flyer players open throughout the game. Dayton took advantage of it as Tesia Kozlowski and others pushed the ball forward, especially with the dribble — something that’s been lacking in past years. The tough non-conference schedule may be paying dividends and the players seemed to be on the same page throughout the contest. Passes were crisp, one touches were accurate, and overlaps from the midfield and defense had purpose to them. Had UD finished more of their easy scoring chances, the score could have been 6-1. All told, the Flyers outshot Xavier 14-3, including 6-1 on goal.

Sophomore sweeper Erin Showalter played the best game of her young career. Occupying the last line of defense, she orchestrated the entire offense by starting things in the back and finding the open player and open space to deliver the ball for an attack. She was tested one on one at several points in the game and used a number of subtle moves to get around the oncoming forwards and escape trouble. Showalter was as cool as a cucumber all night and continues to be one of those players that doesn’t push the panic button when things look hairy. It’s mistake-free soccer and oftentimes it’s the kind that goes unnoticed to the casual eye, but we’re better than that and recognize that she’s the runaway choice for the UDPride Player of the Game. Her sly foot skills continue to be underrated as well.

The Flyers must turns things up to full throttle this weekend as they head to the West Coast to play in the Stanford Invitational. Dayton faces #3 Santa Clara on Friday evening, then go up against #7 Stanford on Sunday in what will prove to be a great measuring stick of where the program currently is. It’s an unbelievably tall order, but if Wednesday’s thorough domination of Xavier is any indication — and the Flyers finish every scoring chance they have — we could be looking at the biggest win in the program’s strong history. They’ll have two cracks at it, and it’s the perfect time to let it all hang out and go for broke. Like the contest against #7 Clemson a year ago, if Dayton can keep it close for the first 60 minutes, it’s anybody’s game.