The #5 UD men’s soccer team hosted #12 Southern Methodist in a historic Sweet-16 NCAA Tournament matchup on Saturday evening at Baujan Field, but came up short in a 3-1 defeat despite taking an early first half lead.  SMU moves on to the Elite 8 to face Marshall and improves to 12-2-6. UD finishes the season at 14-3-3 and ends the nation’s longest winning streak at nine matches.

Bitterly cold temperatures in the high 20s made for challenging conditions and the 7pm kickoff ensured no sunshine to take the edge away.  SMU received a 1st Round bye in the NCAA tournament as the #12 seed, topping Washington 1-0 at home to send them to Dayton.  The Flyers and Mustangs had one previous meeting, a 1-0 SMU victory in 2006 at an in-season tournament at the University of New Mexico. The Stangs have a long and rich history in men’s soccer, reaching the NCAA Tourney 35 times, including 25 Sweet 16s, 13 Elite 8s, and two College Cup appearances (2000, 2005).

The first half couldn’t have started any better for Dayton as they quickly gained possession and pushed forward with numbers, crossing a ball into the center of the box where Martin Bakken finished in front of the net just 54 seconds into the match.  Up 1-0 before players had a chance to work up a sweat, the 1,108 fans in attendance were all but certain more Dayton goals were on the way.

The match was full of surprises however and SMU provided much of the suspense. After controlling the game for the first 10 minutes, the Flyers lost a preponderance of possession and were forced to do more defending in their own half of the field.  SMU’s speedy and cat-quick attacking players posed problems for the UD back line, juking and jiving to make room for crosses into the Dayton goal box that were either deflected out of bounds for corner kicks or cleared away in the field of play.  SMU kept knocking on the door however and continued to frustrate UD, doing well to intercept passes in the midfield and counter assertively and intelligently to players running into open space down the touch lines. SMU also cut inside with the dribble-drive and attacked the box 1 vs 1. UD struggled with first-touches during this stretch and did themselves no favors, but the Mustang pressure and closure speed deserved credit for forcing the play and making UD less comfortable in tight spaces.

A misjudged ball in the defensive third cost UD in the 18th minute when Kyran Chambron Pinho collected from the far left side, beat the defender, and slotted a ball to the far post that beat Flyer GK Dario Caetano to level the score at 1-1.

The next 15 minutes was more of the same as SMU continued to display superlative speed and quickness all over the pitch that caused the Flyers to react to the match rather than dictate the pace and play. The Mustangs were clearly the speediest team to visit Baujan Field this year and one of the few sides that could match or exceed UD’s own attacking pace.  The Flyers withstood additional SMU corner kicks and eventually found better form over the last 10 minutes of the half, pushing forward in numbers to find creases in the Mustang back line. Unfortunately, those openings were few and far between as SMU shut down most chances or turned dangerous Dayton opportunities into half-chances at best.  Normally capable of finding lanes to attack, those avenues didn’t materialize and prevented UD from putting quality shots on frame.

Halftime stats were fairly even. SMU led in shots 5-4 and corner kicks 7-4.

With the match tied at 1-1, the second half restart would prove critical for both teams and the side to go up 2-1 would likely end up winning the match. It was the kind of game where both teams mirrored strengths and weaknesses and attempting to play from behind in the latter stages of the game would not be a recipe for success.  Both teams went back and forth attempting to break the deadlock with quick counter-attacks and weak-side service, but the respective back lines did enough to turn those chances away. Still, SMU looked a bit more dangerous when pushing forward. Despite being undersized at key positions on the pitch, they made up for it with tremendous foot speed and dribbling skills that demonstrated high proficiency in tight spaces to break plays to the open field.  The Flyers had a couple half-chances on offense to take the second half lead, but too many opportunities were either off target or snuffed out entirely.  The Mustangs got the break they were looking for in the 65th minute when UD was whistled for a takedown in the box, resulting in a PK that SMU polished off to take the lead for the first time with just 25 minutes remaining.

It was “go” time for Dayton and things had to be all gas and no brakes in order to find the equalizer before the end of regulation. It felt like the PK took a lot of wind out the Flyer sails however and since scoring in the first minute of the match, UD’s offense had spent 65 minutes generating few shots on frame to test the Mustang goalkeeper. It only takes one moment however, so UD was not out of the match yet.  But that optimism all but vanished in the 72nd minute when SMU flicked in a corner kick at the near post to take a commanding 3-1 lead and essentially ice the match.

 

UD did their best to push players forward and figure out a way to cut the deficit in half, but the Mustang defense maintained their shape and never gave the Flyers the looks they were accustomed to all season.  SMU never stopped pursuing the ball with high pace either, stealing possession from either hustle or just sloppy Flyer passing to salt time off the game clock.  The match turned chippy over the last 18 minutes as tempers flared, in part from some SMU gamesmanship to stall time and some hard fouls that drew yellow cards. Eight yellows were handed after the last SMU goal. Felix Buabeng picked up his second yellow just 17 seconds remaining in the match to earn the red card and underscore the frustration in knowing the season was over and along with not fully capitalizing on the home-field advantage through the NCAA quarterfinal round.

Second half shots favored SMU 9-8 while corner kicks were 2-1 Flyers. UD put just 4 shots on target, well below their average.

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise record-breaking season for UD, going further in the NCAA Tourney than any other Flyer team and achieving the highest national ranking in school history. Dayton also earned the A10 Tourney title along the way — their second in a row.  Saturday’s performance was not Dayton’s best effort and perhaps on a different night the result might have been more favorable, but SMU deserves credit for doing to UD what UD has done to opponents all season — suffocate the pitch with speed and athleticism.  The Mustangs are really good and having spent the fall taking body blows in the ACC, demonstrating perseverance and never flinching when going down a goal just one minute after kickoff.  Their resiliency and poise won the match and legitimately earned their way to the Elite-8. The loss stings for Dayton, but much can be learned and it doesn’t define the body of work that made 2024 the best season in UD men’s soccer history.

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