DAYTON (OH) — Dayton scored three times in the first half and added four more goals after intermission to hammer the Temple Owls 7-1 Sunday afternoon at Baujan Field. Juliana Libertin had a hat trick and Mike Tucker opened the bench after 25 minutes to spread the playing time around. UD improves to 14-3 (5-2), while Temple falls to 4-12 (1-6).

The Flyers got the party started shortly after kickoff as Colleen Williams sent a shot across the box from the left endline to the far post. The angle of the score was as dramatic as the well-placed ball that chipped the goalkeeper and found the side netting.

Up 1-0 after four minutes, Dayton never relinquished total command of the match, pushing forward for scoring opportunities while Owl defenders retreated in disarray. Over the next 15 minutes however, the Flyers had trouble capitalizing on the free space. With a number of options always available, players struggled to choose an attacking path and leverage it to their advantage.

That said, UD dominated the possession and the match was never in doubt from the moment things got started. More goals were imminent and it was just a matter of time before the floodgates opened.

The Flyers added a second goal in much the same fashion as Williams’ initial tally, this time off a corner kick from Juliana Libertin. Libertin’s ball bent toward the near post and snuck inside the net as the Owl goalkeeper fumbled the save. Up 2-0 in the 19th minute, the Flyers weren’t done and Libertin was just getting started.

She added a second goal in the 26th minute off a nice diagonal feed inside the box from Williams. Cutting onto the pass and against the run of play, Libertin carried toward the left side and juked the goalkeeper for the empty net score.

UD carried the 3-0 lead into halftime, but had several other good chances to score. Shortly after Libertin’s second goal, Head Coach Mike Tucker cleared the bench to spread the playing time around. Several players saw their first action in several weeks as Temple did the best they could to keep it halfway respectable. Void of talent however, the Owls suffered mightily on defense where suspect goalkeeping and poor marking crippled their ability to turn scoring chances away and maintain possession.

By halftime Dayton owned a commanding 12-3 lead in shots and 4-0 advantage in shots on goal.

Three minutes into the second half, Dayton found the net for the 4-0 lead. Freshman Kelsey Smigel finished a shot from 18yds out to notch her first of two eventual goals on the afternoon.

Dayton’s lone complacent moment of the match however wasted the shutout opportunity when Williams failed to challenge a 50/50 ball at midfield, resulting in a Temple counter-attack that opened the door for a low post finish past Jordin Melchert from 12yds out in the 52nd minute. It was only one of two Temple shots in the second half.

Libertin earned her hat trick 13 minutes later with a clever spin-and-shoot from 15yds out along the right side of the box that beat the goalkeeper to the far left post. Now 5-1 Flyers, the Owls ran out of gas over the last 25 minutes and spent their time chasing aimlessly and with little organization or purpose.

Smigel tallied her second goal on an assist from Williams in the 76th minute, finding the far post to her liking.

With the bench all but completely cleared, Dayton remained aggressive and got quality minutes from several non-starters. Sophomore Andrea Todak — perhaps her first appearance of the season — redirected a ricochet past the goalkeeper and into an unprotected net for the 7-1 lead in the 81st minute.

The Flyers had another shot cleared off the line midway through the second half, while Owl GK Tara Murphy snagged a diving save off the boot of Williams that was destined for the top shelf. All told, the Flyers could have scored double digits had they kept the starters in, but Temple suffered some bad fortune as well with a few goofy-angled scores and deflections that fell favorably in Dayton’s direction. The final score was a solid indication of the talent difference and run of play.

Match stats were all Dayton: 34-5 in shots and 8-0 in corners.

Considering that gap in skills, the result was exactly what fans expected. The Owls only lost 1-0 on Friday evening to Xavier, but took a similar 7-1 shellacking last week to St. Joseph’s — a team the Flyers needed late-goal heroics to beat on Friday night.

Over the last 15 minutes of the match, only Emily Kenyon and Jordin Melchert remained on the field as starters. The rest were made up of typical and atypical subs from the bench. But the run of play did not deteriorate. In fact, the passing and soccer IQ proved to be the best of the match. Players knocked the ball around and made smart runs into open space, while others worked as a target player to accept a pass and dish elsewhere. Temple was completely tapped out late in the match and offered little resistance, but credit goes to UD’s subs for showing excellent patience and forethought as they worked the ball around with a clear purpose.

Libertin had a big afternoon with the three ringers, while Smigel continues to be opportunistic. Senior MF Alexis Garcia had her best tactical game of the season with top-notch touches of the ball to go along with strong awareness of time and space. On several occasions she brought the ball down from her chest, played to her feet, and provided service to others — all the while shaking off a defender or two in the process.

Defender Kelsey Miller took most of the afternoon off once the score was out of reach. Fellow defender Kathleen Beljan went down with a leg injury at the halftime whistle and needed several minutes of trainer assistance to assess the injury and leave the field. She did not return in the second half and her status is unknown.

Perhaps most eye-opening was the play of freshman defender Chelsea Rose at right fullback over the last 20 minutes of the match. In what might have been her first action of the season, Rose battled relentlessly for loose balls, tackled with authority, and proved to be player proud to wear the worker bee label. In matches like this where seldom-used players might have one chance all year to prove they deserve more playing time, Rose played exactly like a player looking to provide the coaches with a reason to give her a second or third chance.

All good deeds go unpunished however as Rose was hosed out of an assist on Smigel’s second goal. After stealing the ball at midfield, she beat two players, and served a ball to the top of the box where Williams shuffled it to Smigel. Rose did 85% of the work but got none of the credit.

Dayton wraps up the final weekend of the regular season with a pair of matches next weekend at Baujan Field against St. Louis and Charlotte. The Flyers need a bunch of help to finish in the top two, but also need a pair of victories to hold off the challengers for one of the six post-season A10 tourney spots.