FAIRBORN (OH) — In dramatic fashion, the Dayton Flyers pulled a rabbit out of the hat on Monday night as they scored two goals in the final four minutes of regulation — the latter with 13 ticks left in the game — to push the game into overtime where things ended in a 3-3 draw with the Wright State Raiders. Dayton improves to 2-2-1 while the Raiders fail to win for the first time this year and move to 3-0-1.

Dayton played decent soccer in the first half and controlled more of the possession game. By piecing together different combinations between the backs and midfielders, and, midfielders and forwards, the Flyers created a number of scoring chances in the middle of the field but couldn’t get a solid foot on any single shot to really test the Raider keeper. Wright State possesses incredible speed on the flanks however as Travis Sobers and Ricky Strong made things extremely difficult whenever they were around the ball. On several occasions the Flyers had to thwart a fast break or man-down defensive stand with timely slide tackles or critical offside traps. Neither side could scratch the scoreboard given their chances and the first half ended 0-0.

Knowing Dayton had the better of the play in the first half, Flyer fans in attendance — and there were plenty of them — were expecting to find the back of the net and salt this contest away. With 10 minutes gone in the second half, Dayton got the break they were looking for and were awarded a penalty shot that seemed like it would be enough to win if UD could convert. Unfortunately we’ll never know because WSU held fast on the PK with a nice save and just minutes later beat the Flyer defense for the first goal of the game to take a 1-0 lead.

The Flyers were struggling after the missed PK and getting down 1-0 was a critical point in the game. But it didn’t last long because UD evened things up a 1-1 just two minutes later. But that didn’t last long either and the Flyers broke down on defense once again and let a WSU attacker knife through several Dayton players for an easy blast that put WSU back on top 2-1.

Dayton was just a goal away from tying things up despite some shaky play in the second half. That took a dramatic turn for the worse when WSU added another goal on a loose ball in the middle of the field that forced Dayton GK Matt Hutchins from his box. Down 3-1 with 15 minutes left, the Flyers needed to play much better and hope for a break or two along the way.

The hustle and effort increased as things wound down, and it appeared Wright State eased up on the gas just a bit with the 3-1 cushion. They paid for it with four minutes to go when UD put a ball to the far post that was volleyed in to cut the score to 3-2. Dayton had a chance, but it was a slim one and time was running out. Coach Schureck’s squad had a great opportunity just a minute later but a rocketed shot from inside the box hit the crossbar and bounced nearly straight down. The Raiders cleared things and the Flyers had just one or two more chances left.

A free kick about 15 yards behind the midfield stripe with 30 seconds left was the last great hope and GK Matt Hutchins took his time to tee it up and go for broke. Hutchins’ boot made contact at 00:25 and the ball sailed directly into the WSU box where a mad scrum ensued. The ball bounced over a Raider defender and Dayton’s Denny Clanton — a defender of his own — barreled through a couple WSU players to head it home with 00:13 left in regulation. As physical as Clanton is, he needed every ounce of physicality to run through the mess and will the ball past the Raider goalkeeper. He ran over to the rowdy Flyer contingent in the stands — along with his teammates — and gave the Rocky Balboa stare as if things were just getting started.

As it turned out, that’s where the scoring ended. WSU and Dayton had several good chances to win the game in each of the 15 minute overtimes, but it wasn’t to be and Dayton settled for the satisfying tie.

While Clanton’s heroic goal in the final seconds earns him the UDPride Player of the Game, converted forward Mike Nsien scored for the fourth consecutive contest (two goals tonight) and midfielder Erik Nelson was the rock everyone leaned on in the last 10 minutes to dig a little deeper and snatch a tie from the jaws of apparent defeat.

The Flyers could have made things much easier on themselves had the team defense been tighter. Though WSU has serious wheels all over, miscommunication and mental breakdowns resulted in at least two goals. Crisp play fans saw in the first half had trouble hooking up in the second half. Dayton didn’t play a complete game by any means and will feel great about themselves in the morning with the 3-3 tie against an otherwise undefeated WSU club. The Raiders are ranked ahead of the Flyers in the Great Lakes Region so perhaps it’s a positive sign that UD can forge a tie on the road against a good team.

Dayton, unbeaten in their last three games, heads to Bowling Green for the Falcon Invitational. The Flyers meet Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Canisius this weekend before traveling to Ann Arbor on Sept. 28, to complete the home-and-home agreement with the Michigan Wolverines. UW-M recently whipped #14 Creighton 3-0 and are 5-1 on the season, while Canisius is 1-3 and poses less of a challenge. The Wolverines should be a tough contest and the game will be played at nearby Pioneer HS, instead of the UM campus.