The Dayton Flyers lost at home for the first time in over two years as the Marquette Golden Eagles out-muscled and out-hustled the red and blue for a thoroughly convincing 1-0 victory at Baujan Field Sunday afternoon. In a match that had NCAA at-large implications riding on it as both schools are fighting with each other for Great Lakes Region bragging rights, the Flyers drop their first match of the year and fall to 3-1, while the Golden Eagles improve to 3-1 and end UD’s 17-match home winning streak.

The match was one-sided throughout and Marquette pinned Dayton’s ears back from the very beginning. The Golden Eagles pushed their way around the field and created many scoring chances in the first half that, thankfully, the Flyer defense managed to clear away. Seemingly unable — or unwilling — to push back and play mean, Marquette took advantage of UD’s passive attitude and knocked the Flyers off the ball with shoulder charges and hustle-induced takeaways that looked almost too easy at times. Even in the 95 degree heat, Marquette looked fresh while Dayton appeared a step and a half slow. The Flyers had trouble creating space and generating enough time to make things happen.

The Flyers generated little offense in the first half and much of that was a result of an inability to win loose balls and headers. In a five minute span alone, Marquette won 11 of 13 50/50 balls and turned most of those into an attack on the Dayton defense. Without control of the midfield, the Flyer defense took it the hardest and by sheer grit as they’ve shown in years past, kept Dayton in the game when things could have been otherwise. Goalkeeper Steph Weisenfeld was a major reason UD kept the first half deadlocked at 0-0, making several remarkable saves that underlined the mismatch in speed and strength Marquette utilized to push forward and put shots on goal.

Ironically, Dayton’s only quality scoring chance of the first half may have been the game’s best. With under 10 seconds left in the half, the Flyers placed a ball in the Marquette box and got a boot on the ball, only to hit the post and let a golden opportunity slip away. Marquette eventually cleared the ball as Flyer players tried to poke in a rebound.

Marquette started the second half like they ended the first. The Flyers still looked a step slow and before long Golden Eagle players were running wild in the midfield. The venerable Dayton defense continued to hold up however but it was only a matter of time before the law of averages played its hand. That came in the 69th minute as MU’s Carolyn Klopp moved the ball 30yds upfield completely uncontested, ripped a shot from 20yds into the upper left corner, and gave Marquette the 1-0 lead. Just five minutes later, Marquette rifled another shot at the Flyer goal, but Weisenfeld got a finger on it and saved an otherwise sure score.

Dayton’s best chance to tie the score came in the final minute or two of play when Tesia Kozlowski picked a cross out of the air and headed it just inches wide of the left post — a header that beat everyone in a Marquette uniform including the goalkeeper. But that’s all Dayton could create offensively and the Golden Eagles held on.

The Flyers were outshot 24-6 and had no shots on goal for the entire match. It’s hard to compete against the top teams in the region when the offense doesn’t produce shots on goal, but the midfield must be there to win possession and give the team an opportunity. With Marquette doing as they pleased whenever they pleased, the Flyers were in a defensive mode for all but three or four minutes of the contest and never seized a real chance to counterattack and generate scoring opportunities.

In a game with few bright spots, Weisenfeld’s goaltending continues to be brilliant. Defender Jen Simonetti’s toughness and hustle in the back was equally impressive, but aside from her, no one else developed a mean streak and pushed back. The Flyers missed the services of Nina DiGuardi as her toughness and gung-ho attitude would have helped bring stability further up the field, allowing Simonetti to move to outside back.

It’s hard to gauge the match because no one really knows how good either side is so early in the season. The Flyers however got beat by a much better team, at least a better team on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Eagles’ secret recipe was upper body strength and speed, while the Flyer energy appeared to bake in the extremely hot sun. Still, the UD defense continues to hold up incredibly well to very good opponents and should remain one of the best in the region. But the Flyers can’t count on beating top regional teams with superlative defense showings and one or two shots on goal that catch the opponent napping. The Golden Eagles were a firm test and should make the NCAAs once again in 2002, even on an at-large bid. That said, Dayton needs to beat the Marquettes of the world to receive the same bid. Perhaps Sunday’s game was a good learning experience for the team and reminded them that the strong non-conference opponents necessitate a better effort than those needed for most opponents in the Atlantic-10.

Dayton returns to action next Friday against crosstown rival Wright State at Baujan Field. While the Flyers have the better team, it’s always a tightly-contested match and should be a good test for them. The UD defense will continue to turn away most of the opposing offenses on the schedule. Provided the midfield and forwards regain the machismo in time, the Flyers should stand a good chance — against Wright State and the remainder of the schedule.