Through chilling cold, relentless rain, and gusting winds, the Dayton Flyers, Richmond Spiders, and about 50 die-hard fans braved the elements and held on to see which team would capitalize on the first major mistake of the game by the opposition. Unfortunately, the Flyers were on the downside of that equation as they dropped their third heartbreaker at home by giving up a goal in the final minutes of play. The Spiders, who showed why they are considered the team to beat in the A-10 by many, patiently plugged away at the Flyer defense and capitalized in the 85th minute on a counter attack that proved to be the only scoring of the game.

In a contest that was delayed 40 minutes due to Richmond’s late arrival at Baujan Field because of traffic, a few hearty souls decided to stick around for this one and see if UD could duplicate the great performance of last year in similar conditions against BGSU — the night a tornado practically formed over campus and tore through nearby Xenia. The Spiders made a strong first impression before the contest started as about 25 students and parents made the trip from the Commonwealth, started loud, and stayed loud throughout the game. Richmond, known for die-hard fans much like Dayton, had a vocal cheering section to lean on, and needed them in the second half when Dayton began to dominate.

The first half however was all Spiders and UR took command of it in the air, winning headers at every point on the field — a team as good in the air as any we’ve seen thus far. Those headers led to obvious ball possession and Dayton was clearly getting beat before too long. Richmond had great touches all night and moved the ball well throughout the field, finding gaps in the Dayton side that turned into strong attacks in the middle third of the pitch. A couple free kicks — including a pair of corners by both sides — were the best scoring chances of the half, but Flyer goalkeeper Matt Hutchins came up big on a couple other occasions to keep the game scoreless, including a one-handed swat 12 yards out of his box that Dayton finally cleared.

Richmond took the field in the second half looking to continue the pace, but UD turned it up a notch in the hustle department about 10 minutes in and as the Flyers found themselves moving the ball toward the Spider goal with passes instead of long balls, they gained confidence and momentum clearly changed to the home team’s favor. With Dayton looking like the better team, the creativity and instincts we saw so often last year started taking shape and reminding fans of the talent still resting inside them.

The scoreboard almost fell in UD’s favor with 10 minutes to go as forward Sunday Isename positioned himself for a ball from the midfield near the right side of the Richmond penalty box. Isename collected it, turned, took a touch, and quickly rifled a bending shot to the far post that had Spider goalkeeper Shawn Alexander beat. But the ball bounced off the left post and back into play, swerving just an inch too far as Flyer fans were hoping the post would redirect it in the net. Dayton used the close call as more momentum however and continued to push forward and position themselves for a game winner in the last minutes of the contest. A few combinations near the top of the UR penalty box had possibilities, but the Spiders made several long clears to snuff out the threat.

And that’s exactly how the Flyers have been haunted this year, Friday night being no exception. Offensive chances aside, quick counter attacks by opposing teams from the back line have caught Dayton off guard and down a man or two in the defense as long balls sailed toward midfield. Richmond brought the ball out of the back and played a long ball down the right sidelines where a Spider ran free and had an angle toward the goal. Ben Corfield’s ball near the flag was picked up by Ken Holiday who turned it toward the penalty box, beat a defender, and ripped a low shot past Flyer goalkeeper Matt Hutchins for the game winner.

Without question, it’s another disappointing loss for a team who played so well at home just a year ago. With three of Dayton’s five losses coming at home — all of them lost in the final five minutes or overtime — UD is snake bitten to a certain extent. Defensive breakdowns are the culprit, but it’s too hard to tell from the stands who’s to blame. Perhaps it’s miscommunication that’s allowing opposing players to corral long balls and help their team push forward with a man or two advantage. Perhaps it’s just bad luck. Whatever it is, Dayton’s defense overall Friday night was good enough to win, and allowing just one goal puts the responsibility on the offense to score. Richmond is a very good team however — easily the best squad to play at Baujan Field this year — and the Spiders deserve credit for fighting the bumps of travel, horrific weather conditions, and an unknown soccer field and grinding a win out.

The Flyers still have plenty of conference games to play, and many of them are at home. Whether that ends up a good or bad omen is yet to be determined, but Coach Schureck will continue to make adjustments and try to solve the riddle. Friday night, one riddle that was easy to figure out was the play of senior midfielder Erik Nelson who never stopped running and looked a lot like former defender Chris Harder in terms of toughness and never-say-die attitude. Nelson largely set the tone for Dayton in the second half and garner’s the much-deserved UDPride Player of the Game. Nelson has been playing extremely well of late and is emerging as the de facto leader on the field.

Junior Mike Nsien, saddled with an injury that forced him to the sidelines for the last two or three games, came off the bench and split time at forward and in the defense.

Dayton returns to Baujan Field Sunday for a 1pm contest against GW, a rematch of last year’s A-10 Tourny semifinal that saw UD win in penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation and four overtimes.