A pair of second half goals less than a minute apart proved to be enough as the Dayton Flyers pulled off the late-game comeback after falling behind 1-0 on a Temple PK. Dayton capitalized on a PK of their own to tie the match in the 86th minute, then followed it up just 42 seconds later on a Nate Darr header to steal one at home when things were looking bleak. UD improves to 6-4-1 (3-1-0) and remains in a first place tie in the A10 conference, while Temple falls to 4-6-2 (1-1-2).

The Flyers proved victorious once again but it wasn’t a yellow-bricked road along the way. In fact, UD sputtered for most of the match as cohesive soccer never really got off the ground. It was a struggled early as Temple gave a great first half effort and won their share of loose balls in the midfield that turned into Owl possession moving forward. Dayton had some possession of their own, but the match went back and forth without any tangible flow. What the Owls did well was utilize the long ball for nice offensive counterattacks to streaking players with space to do things. The long balls were well-placed and Temple managed to exploit Dayton without having to connect the dots on the Baujan Field turf. Both sides remained fairly disciplined in the back however and as scoring chances for each team came, the offense was never able to get the better of play.

The match was physical from the opening whistle and both teams battered each other with painful tackles and challenges. But the Owls never backed down and showed some nice foot skills all afternoon. Well-time one-touches and some quality overlaps pushed Temple into the Flyer defensive third of the field on a number of occasions. It was much the same for Dayton’s offense, but each side bogged down in the final 25 yards. Many hard fouls later, the teams went into halftime with nothing decided and the match scoreless.

The Flyers needed a step up in play and as the second half started, it took a while for it to happen. Eventually Dayton assembled a stretch of 15 minutes of good soccer and put serious pressure in the Temple half of the field. Junior defender Nate Darr stepped up big-time during this stretch and was a one-man wrecking crew in the back line as he won nearly every high ball played in his direction. As both sides battled back and forth, the physicality of play continued to escalate and it wasn’t long before Owl forward Stephen Bristow chalked up two yellow cards in a span of two minutes to give Dayton a one-player advantage in the 64th minute. Bristow’s first yellow was very questionable, but his second was not.

Unfortunately, it took just three minutes for the Flyers to fumble the prosperity as UD got whistled for an obvious shirt tug in the penalty box that gave Temple a penalty kick they slotted away for the 1-0 lead in the 66th minute. Head Coach Dave Schureck’s team had their work cut out for them to tie things up, and the one player advantage never seemed to make the difference it should have in the final 25 minutes. Temple, to their credit, packed it in defensively and made it extremely difficult for UD to find seams and exploit green space. By and large, there wasn’t any. But the Flyers played too many balls in the air and had a sub-par effort in the passing game. Just when it looked like Dayton would push forward and find a lane to place a shot on goal, a hospital ball found the feet of a Temple player and the counterattack was underway.

Good fortune comes to those who are prepared to accept it however and the Flyers hung in there long enough to earn a penalty kick of their own in the 86th minute. Junior Dasan Robinson was shouldered in the box and taken down, giving senior Tye Stebbins the chance to tie things up with the PK. Stebbins obliged and Dayton had new life. But they weren’t done.

Less than a minute later, junior MF George Nanchoff beat his man down the right sideline and placed a beautiful cross to the far post from 30yds out. The well-driven ball sailed just over the Temple GK for Nate Darr to sky for and drill in off his head. It was a fitting end to the match for Darr, who used his head like a bludgeon in the back line to dominate in the air in the final 10 minutes of play. The Flyers salted away the remaining three minutes to win their sixth match in the last seven tries.

Dayton outshot Temple 13-9 and had a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks. Six yellow cards kept the head referee busy. For the most part it was poorly officiated, with questionable calls for and against both teams.

Swanson had a nice effort Sunday afternoon and hustled along the flanks to win balls and bring them forward. Nanchoff continues to be his opportunistic self and is slowly filling the stat sheet. And GK Matt Troop made the saves he needed to. But it wasn’t the best of efforts overall the Flyers. The crisp team ball fans saw on Friday night against SJU was not to be found against Temple. To Temple’s credit however, they are a step up in competition and look like a tough foe to beat as the A10 season moves forward. The Owls aren’t flashy, but they hustle and understand how to exploit weaknesses.

For Dayton, they remain in control of their destiny as the season continues. As long as UD keeps winning, they are in a position to capture the conference regular season title. They’ve improved their play compared to early in the season but consistency is still needed as well as some more scoring punch. Perhaps the Flyers just need to finish more of their scoring chances. Regardless, the Flyers were staring at a loss on Sunday and found a way to pull off the 2-1 victory in the waning minutes. For the Flyers to keep improving, they must speed up play and utilize more one-touch soccer when opportunities are there to create quality scoring chances. The key is slipping balls through — not over — a defense.

Check the men’s soccer forum on the UDPride Message Board for photos from the match.