It was no easy task for Head Coach Dave Schureck’s Flyers Friday night. Knowing full well the womens soccer team toppled UMass in Amherst by a score of 2-1 to secure their fourth consecutive A-10 season title earlier in the day, the pressure was on to take down UMass on the mens side as well — a Minutemen squad currently tied for 1st place in the A-10 with #16 Rhode Island. Mission accomplished. Dayton used a blue-collar performance reminiscent of last year’s gritty team to dump the boys from the league’s glamour school in front of perhaps the largest crowd of the season. UMass falls to 13-4 (8-2) while the Flyers improve to 10-6-2 (7-2-1).

With Senior Day taking place for one of the largest classes in recent memory, Joe Appel, Dan Bestic, Dan Cerwinske, Lee Crawford, Wade Fischer, Matt Hutchins, Chris Moler, and Erik Nelson were honored before the game and took on the responsibility of making sure the fans didn’t leave the match disappointed.

With the evening dewpoint and earlier rain making for a slippery field, both teams battled the elements all night and the match turned into a war of attrition to see who would make the first fatal mistake. Were the field completely soaked, things would have been easier on the players. Like a soft mist on pavement however, things were greasy and pretty soccer it wasn’t, but competitive soccer it was. Both teams went all out from the opening whistle and the harder one team pushed, the harder the opposition responded.

The Flyers worked the ball successfully to the UMass defensive third of the field for much of the first half, but getting balls in the penalty box proved to be a challenge. Seemingly skirting the perimeter all too often, UMass forced Dayton to penetrate off the flanks and UD had trouble putting crosses in the mixer for a garbage shot with the hope that a couple UMass defenders would slip in the conditions and open up a seam. It never really happened however and the Flyers managed just a couple strong opportunities to put it in the net. On the other hand, Dayton’s defense did an equally good job of denying the long ball and closing the gaps in the midfield, something that’s led to quick counterattack goals in past games. The Minutemen weren’t in the Flyer half of the field long enough to connect the dots either and the first half played out to a competitive 0-0 score.

Dayton stormed out of the gates in the second half and rarely looked back. Whether it was a “Gipper” speech or something less poetic, Dayton was juiced and gave UMass the business throughout the last 45 minutes. And the seniors led the charge. With all eight of the old-timers starting the second half, the veterans showed their experience and composure by pointing the compass for the rest of the team. Midfielder Wade Fischer came through in the 47th minute with a redirect off a Lee Crawford lob just in front of the UMass goal. It beat the goalkeeper and gave UD the 1-0 advantage, all it would need to send the Minutemen packing.

Though the Flyers didn’t tally another score, they dominated the final 30 minutes and could have tacked on another three or four had the UMass goalkeeper not made highlight reel saves when forced into a one vs. one with Dayton players from point blank range. A pair of other shots just missed finding the corner of the net as well. Though UD had control and looked like the better team in the last minutes of the game, UMass nearly tied it up in the final minute when they redirected a corner kick with a header that rifled off the ground near UD goalkeeper Matt Hutchins’ feet and bounced over the crossbar.

With all eight seniors stepping it up in the second half and taking it to the house, they collectively earn UDPride Players of the Game in their next to last home game of their careers. Dayton returns to Baujan Field in the regular season finale on Sunday against perennial league power Rhode Island. The Rams, who clinched the A-10 regular season title with a 2-0 victory over Xavier Friday night, are 13-2-1 (9-1) and currently ranked #16 in the NSCAA soccer poll. UD can use the match as more momentum heading into the A-10 Tournament they are hosting a week from now and improve their seeding along the way as the season’s last afternoon of action in the Atlantic-10 plays out to a conclusion.