The Dayton Flyers returned to winning ways Sunday, beating the UMass Minutewomen 1-0 on a mild sunny afternoon at Baujan Field. The Flyers netted their only goal in the fifth minute on a Jen Simonetti cross in the box that senior Shannon Kuhl tucked away with a header. UD improves to 8-3 (2-1) while UMass falls to 2-7 (1-2).

The Flyers, who had trouble matching the intensity of Rhode Island on Friday, were ready to go at the opening kickoff against UMass and immediately took charge offensively. Dayton grabbed possession in the midfield and started picking away at the UMass defense by serving balls to the corner flags and using overlaps from the back line to fill in space and push forward. That’s precisely how UD got their lone goal just minutes into the match when Simonetti overlapped on the left side and took it to the corner of the box. A nice cut against the grain shook the defender and gave her enough time to serve a great ball in the box that Kuhl finished off with her head that beat UMass GK Kelly Nigh to the top corner of the far post.

It looked as if the Flyers would find the back of the net several times thereafter as they looked more technically gifted and quicker to the ball, but UMass hung in there and managed to keep the Flyers off the scoreboard. It wasn’t because Dayton wasn’t generating enough of a push into the UMass defense however. In fact, Dayton had plenty of opportunities to extend the lead, but never anything quite good for someone to put away. Simonetti and Liz Brown worked well together on the left side — just as they did on Friday night. Brown turned the corner at the flag on several occasions and was able to find players in scoring position with a ball near the box, but the Flyers struggled all half and for much of the game with their first touch and gave UMass an opportunity to poke the ball away when things looked promising. Defender Nina DiGuardi, recovering from an akle injury earlier in the year, went down in the middle of the first half with an apparent knee injury and did not return to the match. As a result, Simonetti moved to stopper while Jacqueline Luehrs came off the bench and took over at left back. As the half ended with Dayton up 1-0, UD led in shots 10-3 but more importantly shots on goal were deadlocked at just 2-2.

The second half got off to a good start for Dayton, and more opportunities in the offensive third of the field gave UD a chance to add to their lead. UD would finish the game with a decisive 27-5 advantage in shots — many of those coming in the final 45 minutes. But the Flyers couldn’t put shots on goal and force the UMass goalkeeper to make a few outstanding saves. Brown continued where she left off in the first half, going baseline on at least two occasions and serving a great ball in the box for the Flyers to jump on, but UMass packed it in on defense and withstood the challenges. Freshmen Meghan Borysiak and Laura Boland stepped up their games in the second half. Borysiak worked the left side and talied a career-best four shots on goal — including one in the first half that found the side netting of the hear post, while Boland showed more assertiveness than prior games by winning loose balls and pushing things forward with the dribble rather than the early pass. Luehrs found iron late in the game after overlapping on the the left side and placing a 25yd ball to the far post.

The Flyers had control of the match throughout, with the exception of a 15 minute stretch of the second half when UMass was able to take advantage of several free kicks and throw-ins deep in Dayton territory that pinned UD into a short-term defensive mode. Dayton was able to pick things up in the final 10 minutes of the match and had a series of flurries in front of the UMass goal that weren’t polished off.

While UMass is struggling mightily this year, they did knock off Xavier 2-1 on Friday night and the Flyers know even the struggling teams will pick their game up with the hope of knocking off the four-time defending A-10 regular season champs. Fans saw some of that on Sunday, and while Dayton must get better at finishing offensively — UMass needed just five saves on 27 shots — the Minutewomen remained scrappy and looked much better than a 2-7 team, even if they’ve played a strong schedule.

Dayton returns to action next Friday when they host George Washington at 7:30pm.