Dayton put themselves in a familiar spot against a quality opponent, but a familiar outcome spoiled the fun as St. Louis capitalized on a PK with under three minutes remaining to force extra time and salvage a 2-2 2OT draw against the Flyers on Senior Night at Baujan Field. Prior to the match, UD honored the career achievements of seniors Ryan Lyn, Greg Enstone, and Ryan Peterson. UD’s record now stands at 6-4-4 (2-1-2), while the Billikens leave town at 10-3-2 (2-1-2).

In a match UD needed to win to keep hope alive for any realistic NCAA at-large consideration, things got off to a great start for the home team. Showcasing good energy from the opening kickoff, the Flyers went toe-to-toe with nationally-ranked St. Louis and had the better run-of-play over long stretches. It didn’t take long for UD to make the most of their first honest scoring chance inside the SLU goal box, countering the length of the field and culminating in a long service from Amass Amankona to James Haupt streaking toward the 18 yard line. Haupt took the pass in stride and with a couple excellent touches of the ball, beat the charging SLU goalkeeper and finished a jaunty angle to the far post for the open-net score in the 9th minute. Up 1-0 early in the game, Dayton couldn’t have asked for a better start.

Unfortunately, the lead last just four minutes. The Billikens used their size and strength to push forward, picking off an important ball in the central midfield to make a charge. After getting the ball wide, SLU sent a trio of excellent crosses into the UD box, pin-balling the ball far post, near post, then far post again that exposed defensive gaps in the goal box. The Bills finished the last of the serviced balls from short-range to tie the match at 1-1 in the 13th minute.

From there, offensive challenges for both teams inside the goal box were tough to come by, although the overall level of play was very good. Defensive shape and integrity turned away most dangerous balls, leaving half-chances at best as neither side could punch it in to break the tie score.

UD’s best opportunity to re-take the lead came on a flurry directly in front of the goal line, but the resulting scrum bottled up any clean looks at the net. A couple shots ricocheted off SLU defenders — balls that would have otherwise found the back of the net.

The remainder of the first half was evenly played. The last 25 minutes in particular swung back and forth as both teams had extended periods of possession but were unable to catch the other team napping.

Tied 1-1 at intermission, the boxscore accurately reflected the first 45 minutes of play as UD and SLU took six shots a piece, while the Bills earned the lone corner kick.

The second half was more of the same, although the pace of the game gradually ramped up as the match continued. St. Louis used its size and strength advantage to muscle the ball around the pitch, while Dayton leveraged their speed and quickness to spring players attempting to make runs into free space. Amankona gave up several inches and considerable poundage in the middle third of the field, but did well to win loose balls and use the dribble-drive to push the offense forward.

Steadily however, the Flyers’ hard work began to pay off. UD exploited a few gaps in the middle or sent booming weak-side balls to teammates running down the touch lines. That freed up the Flyer offense just enough to get a couple good looks at the net, hitting the woodwork on one occasion when the Billiken goalkeeper was soundly beaten.

The post came into play once again in the 76th minute when Amankona tattooed a shot from outside the goal box, hitting the post to spare SLU. But he would redeem himself just one minute later, cracking a missile from the same spot on the field — this time tucking it away to the far post to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead with just 13 minutes remaining.

The Flyers were in this position before, attempting to salt away victories against George Mason and Valparaiso. Long balls in the box culminated in flick headers that found the net with under 30 seconds remaining in each match however, snatching draws from the jaws of victory. Dayton needed to keep the pedal down and play not-to-lose in order to hold on against the #13 ranked Billikens.

In a season of many close encounters but not enough nails in the coffin, the Flyers fell victim to another late goal after attempting to make a lead stand. St. Louis did some Academy Award-winning work inside the box when a Billiken player pirouetted to the ground as SLU sent a cross in the box. The referee pointed to the spot and SLU polished away the penalty kick to tie the match at 2-2 in the 88th minute.

It was deja vu all over again.

Regulation ended with second half shots on goal tied at 10 a piece, while UD earned a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.

They played a pair of 10-minute sudden death overtimes but neither side registered a shot or corner kick. The Flyers seemed to lose considerable steam after the heart-break ending to regulation, but did enough to salvage the tie — even though a draw still feels like a consolation prize all things considered.

Based on the overall level of play, UD performed as well as the Billikens in all parts of the field. It was a quality measuring stick for Head Coach Dennis Currier’s team and if nothing else, proved once again UD can compete well against top programs this year. But complacency and an inability to keep the pedal to the metal in the waning moments of recent matches has defined the season thus far, and that’s the difference between the Flyers finding themselves in the middle of the A10 hunt and being a lock for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. The margin of error is sometimes razor thin.

UD hosts Western Michigan in a rare mid-week non-conference match on Tuesday.