DAYTON (OH) — It took a month of soccer and nine matches, but the Dayton Flyers earned their first shutout of the season with a convincing 3-0 victory over cross-town rival Wright State on Friday night at Baujan Field. Dayton scored twice in the first half and added another in the second frame to improve to 6-3. The Raiders fall to 3-2-3.

In the second match of a Friday night doubleheader, Mike Tucker’s squad had their work cut out for them to match the well-played effort showcased by Dennis Currier’s UD men’s soccer team in their 2-1 OT win over Gardner-Webb. But the women were up to the challenge.

The Raiders, much improved compared to 4-5 seasons ago, were anticipated to be a stern test for the Flyers — especially since Dayton has made a mess of defending against any opponent all season.

From the opening whistle however, Dayton was clearly the side to beat. Quicker to the ball and demonstrating solid short and long passing through the middle or up the flanks, UD stretched the Wright State defense the entire width of the field to open up space moving forward. The Flyer midfield — somewhat maligned in recent weeks for a suspect work rate and lack of possession — stepped up in the first half with quality challenges to loose balls and equally strong service to teammates running forward into space.

The Flyer mids worked well together, especially inside the width of the center circle. Using one- and two-touch passing, the mids performed well as a group and carved up the Raiders time and again. Freshman Nicole Waters played perhaps the best match of her young career with excellent footwork, ball control, and distribution to others. Off the bench, Stephanie Emery looked alive for the first time in two weeks and gave Dayton a competitive boost between the penalty boxes with physical play that resulted in loose-ball victories and possession dribbling forward.

Up top, Juliana Libertin and Colleen Williams were a handful for the Raider back line. The two scoring machines teamed up in the 17th minute to put the Flyers up 1-0 on a beautiful sequence inside the box. Williams took Libertin’s square ball outside the box, dribbled forward and held off a defender for the perfect shot past imposing WSU goalkeeper Brooke McCurdy.

Dayton continued their solid play over the next 20 minutes of the first half, though the back line did struggle occasionally, making easy work more difficult than it often needed to be. Still, the overall run of play was very good and UD was far more potent in the strike zone.

As high-quality as the first goal was, freshman Nicole Waters raised the bar with a rocket from 15yds out after dribbling forward with pace. Waters tattooed the ball past McCurdy to give UD the 2-0 lead in the 40th minute.

That’s where the score settled as halftime came. UD owned a commanding 18-5 advantage in first half shots and dominated corner kicks 7-0.

Wright State’s best chance to get back into the match would be to score first in the final 45 minutes and cut the deficit to 2-1. With Dayton’s propensity for giving up goals, tightening the match to a one-goal game could have proven problematic once again. But those worries were all unfounded Friday night as UD continued to dominate the play and eventually added a third back-breaking goal in the 66th minute. Freshman Ashley Campbell chipped a perfect shot to the far post after McCurdy challenged the loose ball beyond her goal mouth. The tally put Dayton up 3-0 and made for the third high-quality finish of the evening. Campbell’s finish would round out the scoring as UD dominated the final 20 minutes to salt the match away.

UD outshot WSU 34-8 and had a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.

McCurdy, WSU’s talented goalkeeper with a rocket launcher for a foot, probably kept the match as close as it was. Dayton had several other chances inside the box and were it not for two or three fantastic McCurdy saves, the Flyers could have scored five or six goals.

Williams was mostly unstoppable all night. Her passing was exceptional and she opened up the field for weak-side jailbreaks in the first and second half. She also did well to play a target striker role, holding off defenders and dinking to teammates facing the goal. Likewise, Libertin put forth her usual display of marathon running, opening up the field and stretching the opposing back line whenever she wanted. For all of her efforts, she probably deserved a goal.

Emery had her best match of the season by far. When she wins balls, UD is a completely different team compared to when her motor is stuck in park. Waters and Campbell — the two Canadian frosh — continue to improve and are providing few reasons to leave them out of the starting XI as the season moves forward. Waters in particular did exceptionally well all evening as both distributor and penetrating dribbler. Her passes were well-weighted and her touches had a purpose. Campbell’s size gives Dayton a unique presence and pace in the offense that no other player offers. Her work rate and willingness to track passes in the defensive third to force errant clears or gaffs altogether is also welcomed.

Defensively, UD did not get pinched forward or let players slip behind. Overall passing out of the back was still problematic at times, but the organization was much better. In short, the defense defended better; they just need to finish the play and distribute more accurately and effectively.

From top to bottom, it was a very solid body of work from whistle to whistle. A high soccer IQ, good work rate, and strong organization made for a match that was never in doubt. The Flyers also deserved their first clean sheet of the season and perhaps it will provide a boost in confidence as the A10 schedule begins. It remains to be seen how good Wright State is. They tied DePaul earlier in the season and Dayton lost to the Blue Demons in overtime — a match that got away. On Friday night, Dayton looked much better compared to two weeks ago.

UD gets some much-needed rest as they don’t play for another two weeks. The A10 schedule begins on Oct. 28, with a math at UMass, followed by Rhode Island two days later.