The UD Women’s Soccer hosted cross-town rival Wright Sate on Thursday evening at Baujan Field, securing a 5-1 victory to close out the non-conference portion of the 2024 schedule.  All five goals came off the feet of different players, including four in the decisive second half as the Flyers improve to 6-2-0 on the season.  The The Raiders fall to 2-5-0.

Coming off the most impressive performance of the season after 1-0 victory at Louisville, the Flyers played host to their local rival as the teams were once again set to battle things out in a back-yard brawl that dates back many decades. Wright State entered the match following up a 2-1 loss at home to Valparaiso last weekend and on the prowl for an important rebound win just a few miles from their home turf.

UD controlled the early moments of the match with better possession that resulted in advantageous run of play.  A couple early chances never fully developed until Diana Benigno called her own number on a finish inside the WSU goal box in the 9th minute to put Dayton up 1-0.  The next 8-10 minutes were also to Dayton’s liking, but the middle 20 minutes of the half fell into a back-and-forth knock-around where purpose and urgency were lacking. The Flyers once again picked up the pace towards the end of the first half, helped in part by Maddie Bowman doing solid work along the right touch line to stretch the field and apply pressure to WSU’s back line.

Shots were 9-5 and corner kicks 4-0 and were an accurate reflection of the first 45 minutes of play.

The Raiders lacked scoring punch in the first half and needed a more dangerous effort in the offensive half of the field as the restart commenced.  It largely never happened unless UD turned sloppy with the ball in their own defensive third. That lack of sharpness and attention to detail popped up at times and made for some dangerous situations that could have been easily avoided. Thankfully the Flyers never made the big defensive mistake and GK Batoul Reda was there to clean up the remaining loose ends.

A second goal to stretch the lead to 2-0 might take the wind out of Wright State’s sails and prove too much to recover from. Kyra Karfonta obliged in the 57th minute on a well-struck free kick from 23yds out that tucked inside the right post. The foul that drew the whistle looked a bit weak but UD did well to capitalize.  It also signaled the end of WSU’s chances and a resulting floodgate of second half Flyer goals.

Laney Smith made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute after taking a perfect through-ball from Benigno and slotting it inside the near post.  Ella Raimondi redirected a Dayton corner kick in the 71st minute with a deflection at the near post to extend the lead to 4-0. Just a minute later, Bowman tacked on the fifth and final goal with a dispossession out high that resulted in a walk-in uncontested shot to an empty net.

The Raiders avoided the shutout with a goal of their own on the 79th minute after some sloppy play in UD’s defensive third resulted good look WSU managed to slip past Reda and spoil the UD shutout.

Second half stats were 10-5 in shots and 4-0 in corner kicks.  The lone disappointment of the night coming from the Raiders’ second half goal on their only shot on frame of the match. Otherwise it was mostly good news and a workman-like effort for Head Coach Eric Golz’ team.  Benigno fought hard in the middle third for loose balls and did well to provide service to the strikers, while Bowman continues to press for more playing time by exploiting her speed advantage against favorable matchups along the right sideline.

Dayton travels to Loyola (IL) on Thursday September 19th for the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams.  Kickoff is 8pm EDT.

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