Sophomore forward Chris Rolfe took three or four small touches of the ball from 25 yards out, found a small break of daylight, and chipped a shot that tucked into the top right corner of the net, beating Denver goalkeeper Lami Harmon and earning the Flyers a hard-fought 3-2 victory despite playing a man down for the last 20 minutes of the match. The Flyers reach the .500 mark for the first time this season, improving their record to 3-3-1, while the Pioneers fall to 4-4.

In what turned into yet another physical matchup of two teams pushing, pulling, grabbing, and tackling for their livelihoods, the Flyers and Pioneers duked it out from the opening kickoff and never let up until Rolfe’s magic stuck a fork in things. Denver, historically one of the top programs in the Rocky Mountain region and recent 4-2 losers to top-ranked Stanford, brought the heat and gave Dayton everything they could handle. But the Flyers were ready too and it was the home team who scratched the scoreboard first when senior forward Sunday Isename poked in a Tye Stebbins corner kick in the 6th minute of play directly in front of the near post after a Denver defender missed a clear. It was a chance to see how the Flyers could play front-runner as UD had not been ahead early in a game for most of the season. It was also a chance to see how the Pioneers would respond. True to their program’s pedigree, the Pioneers got back to work and tallied the equalizer just two minutes later when they sent a chip up the middle of the field to Robert Rice, who collected the ball and flicked it past a charging Jason Kurdziel from 18 yards out that found the back of the net and tied the game at 1-1.

Denver struck again in the 19th minute on a wicked volley from 30 yards out by Nic Hartman who sent one to the far corner of the net that left Flyer GK Jason Kurdziel unable to do a thing about it. The Flyers hung tough however and as the match wore on, so did the physicality. In fact, Tye Stebbins started the match with a yellow card after just 39 seconds when he protested a call by throwing the soccer ball at a Denver player — perhaps the fastest yellow card in Flyer history. Stebbins would make up for it in the 37th minute by pouncing on a loose ball from 20 yards out and burying it into the low corner of the net to tie the game a 2-2.

With four goals in the first half, the match felt like the first team to four goals would win, but the defenses for both sides came up big and what started out as an offensive show slowly became a defensive slugfest. Both teams had great chances to score in the second half and each goalkeeper was tested often, but big saves were the storyline and Jason Kurdziel turned away several extremely dangerous balls in the Flyer box. The Flyers had offensive chances of their own but Denver was up to the task as well, including a brilliant one-handed diving save by GK Lami Harmon that bordered on the ridiculous.

Late in the game it was Rolfe, Christian Porto, Stebbins, and redshirt freshman Jesse Faily fighting for the game winner on the offensive side of the field, but the Flyers got unlucky in the 87th minute when defender Michael Nsien earned his second yellow card of the game, forcing Dayton to play a man down for the remainder of the match. Coach Dave Schureck countered with freshman defender Brennan Randquist off the bench and got help from Scott Hinshaw as well to make up for Nsien’s loss in the Dayton backfield.

The first overtime came and went with both sides pushing hard for the golden goal. Denver’s Robert Rice, who tallied the first Pioneer goal of the day, was a load up top and battled all afternoon with top Flyer defender Danny Clanton. Rice, every bit 6-4 or taller, was a transfer from West Virginia Univ. and Alabama A&M, and without physical defenders like Clanton, Dan Thomas, Nate Darr, and others, could have found the back of the net on more than one occasion.

The match appeared destined to a 2-2 tie, and all things considered, would have been a satisfying result considering the Flyers were playing a man short. But anytime Chris Rolfe has the ball at his feet he’s dangerous, needing only a small crack in the armor to find a seam and rip a game-winner. That’s precisely what happened just 90 seconds from the end of the match as he made a few quick touches to set up the game winner by chipping the goalkeeper and finding the top corner of the net to the complete bewilderment of the Denver players.

The Flyers were issued eight yellow cards on the day while Denver earned just one, and several calls by the head referee were extremely questionable, including an apparent Rolfe goal late in the second half off a toe-poke in the front of the Denver box that was ultimately waived off due to offsides (Dayton had a goal called back Friday against Vermont as well). The Flyers battled through it however and eventually found a way to get the job done against a very good side — the Pioneers were #9 in the latest Midwest Region poll by the NSCAA.

Dayton gets a full week off before tackling Michigan on Sunday afternoon at Baujan Field. The Wolverines, quickly becoming a regional power and Big-10 conference power after years as the premier college club team in the country (winning club national titles), are currently #8 in the Great Lakes Region, the same region as UD. Michigan up-ended Dayton a year ago in Ann Arbor, but the Flyers came out on top two years ago when they last played at Baujan Field.