First things first. The Dayton Flyers capped off an undefeated home season Sunday afternoon by defeating a relentless Temple Owl squad 3-1 on the heels of three second half goals, pushing the UD winning streak to nine matches. It also marked the final home game for three seniors: Bridget Bushman, Sarah Walker, and Megan McKnight. The trio was honored on Senior Day moments before the kickoff to a deserving applause as they closed out their careers at home as the most successful class in school history. Three A-10 season titles, one tournament title, and the program’s lone NCAA birth and NCAA victory mean they were a part of the best Dayton soccer has put forward

Capping everything off with another victory in their last home match is poetic justice indeed.

Festivities aside however, the match turned into another scare for Dayton — eerily similar to Friday night’s 2-1 victory over St. Joseph’s. Head Coach Mike Tucker’s squad came out of the gates fast and put serious pressure on the Owl defensive third of the field just moments into the game. The Owls looked like they were in for a long day and Flyer goals seemed eminent, but Temple slowly collected themselves and used a blue-collar mentality to stay competitive throughout the last 30 minutes of the first half. Dayton had two or three good chances in the first half, especially in the first 10 minutes when a fingertip grab on the goaline grass by the Owl goalkeeper was the only thing that kept the score 0-0. But UD couldn’t capitalize thereafter either and things ended 0-0 at intermission.

In no uncertain terms, Dayton needed a quick goal at the start of the second half or else the Owls would continue to gain confidence and stretch the margin of error for either side to thin measurements. Fortunately, things happened perfectly as left fullback Jen Simonetti crashed the goalmouth on a set cross and redirected it home for a 1-0 lead and her second goal of the season. Up 1-0, UD could relax a bit and settle into their ball control game without having the bugaboos of impatience or hesitancy, but they never had a chance to do so.

Goalkeeper Steph Weisenfeld battled the sun on a cross by the near post and couldn’t keep it in play. Temple turned the corner kick into a goal when Melissa Foley put her head on it to tie the game at 1-1 just four minutes after Simonetti’s score.

Play continued and Dayton managed a few more chances, including a shot that bounced off the post, but the score remained tied. With under 25 minutes to go, crunch time was looming and it truly was anyone’s game. With just a shot or two on goal all afternoon and Temple’s ability to turn one of them into a goal, one more mistake could send the Flyers into a first place tie with UMass and halt the program-best home and conference winning streaks at 16 games apiece. Sophomore Shannon Kuhl provided the lifejacket however in the 68th minute when she took a Megan McKnight drive from the central midfield and redirected it on the fly. It kissed the post slightly but was going in nonetheless and sure enough Dayton was back on top 2-1. Kuhl’s score seemed to awaken the Flyers and for the remainder of the match UD had the better play. Insurance came in the 79th minute when junior Liz Brown was taken down right in front of the goalmouth, near the penalty kick hash where sweeper Erin Showalter converted the eventual PK on a rebound that deflected off the Temple goalkeeper. Up 3-1, things were over and the final 10 minutes came to a foregone, albeit somewhat exasperating, conclusion.

The seniors, as expected, were an important part of the win. McKnight, Bushman, and Walker are career starters and fans will miss them. While none of them rewrote the record books, all of them will leave their names in the Top-10 in many categories and exemplify those players who can bring more to the table than just one strength. By and large, the Flyer defense played a strong match once again and did more than enough to give the offense a chance to win the game. Jen Simonetti’s goal to start the scoring was as important as any and she made a strong account of herself at the left back position, good enough to earn Simonetti her first UDPride Player of the Game for 2001.

It’s hard not to be excited about the 2001 Flyer team. Coach Tucker’s troops are riding a nine-game winning streak and remained undefeated in league play as the first place team in the conference. They also finished the home schedule unblemished and pushed their Baujan Field winning streak to 17 games — the same as their conference streak. All the more impressive considering the departure of All-American Missy Gregg before the season. But something has been missing over the last two or three weeks and Dayton can no longer afford to put forth the same effort. While the nine game winning streak is impressive, it’s also true however that with the exception of a road victory over Richmond, the other eight wins have come to relatively weak teams — mostly with sub .500 records. All too often, the score of the game is a poor indicator of what transpired. In UD’s 1-0 victory of Miami (OH) in the lone exhibition, it was a complete drubbing by the Flyers. This weekend’s 2-1 and 3-1 victories were nip and tuck for much of the game.

Dayton goes on the road next weekend for the final two matches of the regular season — against UMass on Friday and Rhode Island on Sunday. Both teams are a definite step up in competition compared to the last three weeks of the Flyer schedule and will send Dayton packing if the Flyers don’t tighten their game and improve their level of play. Without question, UD is the program to beat in the A-10 and has proved so this year and in years past, but it appears as if the Flyer players haven’t convinced themselves of two realities. First, all the other programs circle Dayton on the schedule as their game of the year. Second, those same opponents will play much better than their records indicate to make it their upset of the year. St. Joseph’s and Temple were prime examples this weekend of teams with poor records who looked as good or better than Dayton for stretches of the game. The Flyers are still getting opportunities to score, but finishing has been a struggle in 2001 as Dayton has scored more than three goals in a game just once. If UD can put the shots low and on goal as the home stretch of the season commences, there is little to worry over.

There are no certainties, but one is likely. Coach Tucker and his staff will conduct the most competitive practices of the season this week and remind the players that good enough won’t be good enough next weekend. Dayton has shown an ability to raise their level of play as the competition warrants it, so it’s safe to assume that the Flyers will be ready. But Dayton is usually better than the competition, which means playing to the level of competition means a step back rather than a step forward. One giant step forward this week is what it shall take if the players have intentions of running the table in the A-10. “Whatever it takes” has been the team motto, and if they truly believe it, the only team that can beat Dayton is Dayton. Fans have seen enough UD soccer to know that this team could be something special down the stretch. It’s time to seize the opportunity they’ve worked so hard for all season and drop the hammer.