An offensive explosion to start the second half netted two goals just after the restart as the Dayton Flyers added one more later on to up-end the Belmont Bruins 3-0 in front of 410 appreciative fans at Baujan Field. With the victory, UD notches their first win of the season and improves to 1-3-0 while Belmont falls to 1-3-0. Head Coach Dennis Currier also reached the 200-win milestone with the victory.

Much of the first half favored the attacking style of Dayton as they pushed players forward and did a nice job of working hard for most of the loose balls in the midfield. By winning those 50/50 chances, UD turned them into several outstanding scoring opportunities in the first half. Poor finishing around the goal mouth continued to bottleneck things and keep the game scoreless – including a missed header directly in front of the box. From distance, a quality rip by midfielder Ryan Hefley missed just a foot or two wide. Still, the Flyers kept the pressure on and most of the credit belonged to the high work rate exhibited all over the field.

What kept Dayton off the scoreboard was a continuation of past matches where the weak side lacked the service it deserved to exploit questionable marking by the opposing back line. Last week it was Patrick Polito along the left side pleading for a few transition balls over the top. Today it was junior midfielder Aaron Swanson who pinched forward and walked the touch line completely unmarked at times just waiting for some good service. Dayton elected to keep play a bit more predictable however and as the ball migrated to one side, it tended to stay there until possession changed hands.

With a high work rate, the match was physically dictated by UD and it forced Belmont to counter it with a similar style. As the first half wore on though, it was evident that Dayton was more comfortable with the style while Belmont lacked the pace to keep up. When that’s the case, one side starts committing dangerous fouls and that’s exactly what happened as the Bruins were out of position at times and reaching with high boots and untimely forearms that drew plastic from the referee. The visitors earned a yellow card in the 38th minute then went a man down in the 40th minute after a dangerous challenge against Flyer goalkeeper Nick Tarkany sent Brendon Miller to the showers. Down a man, the Bruins managed to milk the remainder of the first half to secure a 0-0 halftime score.

Dayton outshot Belmont 9-4 and outcornered them 4-0 in the half.

After 300 scoreless minutes to the 2006 season, Dayton finally dialed up the winning formula in the second half. It didn’t take long either as sophomore Caleb Lindemann sent a rocket to the right post just 14 seconds after the restart to make it 1-0. While Belmont knew they had their work cut out for them because of the red card in the first half, they never expected to be playing from behind so soon. Things got worse almost as quickly when junior Tyler Imbrogno finished off a terrific cross from Hefley with a header to the near post that beat Bruin goalkeeper Kyle Roelke just over a minute later. Now up 2-0, the Flyers were in total control and it didn’t take long for Belmont to pack their bags and mail the rest of the match in.

Lindemann would add his second goal of the match in the 60th minute after running onto a long ball played from the back and crushing a shot to the corner from around the 18yd line to make the score 3-0. A few more scoring chances came and went, but the Flyers knocked the ball around extremely well over the course of the last half hour, finding space and taking defenders one-on-one when the opportunities were there. Dayton owned the boxscore with an 18-7 shot advantage and 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Weak side balls go the unmarked player pushing forward remained problematic however. More field vision and awareness are needed as the season moves along.

With the man advantage for over a half, the Flyers had no excuse not to control tempo, establish a rhythm, and pepper the opposing goal mouth with scoring opportunities. Fortunately all of those things happened; they may have happened anyway despite the numbers because of UD’s strong work habits from start to finish.

Without a doubt, things remain a work in progress. Not everyone is on the same page yet and there are small details that continue to slow progress, but Monday evening was a positive first step and if the high level of effort remains steadfast, there’s a good chance Dayton can surface above .500 soon.

Dayton hosts the Flyer Classic next weekend. Things begin with Western Illinois on Friday night and wrap up on Sunday afternoon against IUPUI.

Check the Men’s Soccer forum on the UDPride message board for photos from tonight’s match.