It was a record day Sunday afternoon at Baujan Field as Stephanie Weisenfeld established a new Flyer record for career shutouts by a goalkeeper with a 2-0 blanking of the LaSalle Explorers — a team who came into the match sitting in second place in the A-10 standings. After just 12 games into her junior year, Weisenfeld bumps her shutout total to 20 games, breaking the previous mark of 19.5 held by Julie Ciasnocha (91-94). The Flyers improve to 7-5 (5-0) and are winners of five straight matches along with two other notables and remain tied for first place in the A-10. Dayton extended their program-best home winning streak to 14 matches, while improving their A-10 conference winning streak to a school best 13.

The Flyers came out quickly and proved to be the better team throughout the first half. Knocking the ball around and building an attack from the back line as they’ve done in the last four matches, UD methodically put pressure on the Explorers and had excellent scoring chances early. LaSalle turned away the first wave of shots, but Tesia Kozlowski ran through a loose ball from about 18yds and fired a hard, low shot to the corner that found the net and lifted the Flyers to a 1-0 advantage in the 12th minute. Knowing LaSalle has one of the stronger teams in the conference and beat a solid Rhode Island club 3-0 a few days earlier, it was imperative for Dayton to keep the pressure on and extend the lead. The Flyers had several more great chances in the first half including at least two opportunities from point blank range, but, like Friday night against Fordham, UD couldn’t get over the ball and sent them over the crossbar.

Good fortune came Dayton’s way however in the 40th minute as sophomore Judi Aschenbrener crossed a bullet from the left corner flag that Explorer goalkeeper Kaitlin Glass had trouble with. Glass punched it away, but right into one of her teammates as well, and the ball deflected back into the net for an own goal. Up 2-0 at halftime, LaSalle was pretty much buried

After a dominating performance in the first half however, that’s when things took a turn for the worse. Coaches will tell you that a two goal lead is the worst lead in all of soccer because it’s large enough to seem insurmountable, but small enough to throw away. Apparently the Flyers fell into the trap because they mailed it in over the entire second half and looked like the second best team on the field. Perhaps everyone simply put it on cruise control in light of the 2-0 lead, but LaSalle had just as much to do with it by outhustling and outscrapping UD all over, and that had many fans on the Baujan Field terrace a bit frustrated because Dayton has much more talent. In no uncertain terms, the second half effort by the home team was inadequate at best and it may end up playing in Dayton’s favor down the road because the coaches now have plenty of ammunition at practice this week. For a team looking so dominant in the last five matches, leave it to Head Coach Mike Tucker and his staff to remind the team of their vulnerabilities if they play an entire match like the last 45 minutes against the Explorers. At this point in the season, it’s not so much about winning but rather playing your best soccer. It goes without saying that UD should beat teams like LaSalle anymore.

Regardless, Dayton once again earned a victory and the season continues to look bright. Weisenfeld’s career day in goal as well as a great one-on-one save against a LaSalle forward that looked like a sure goal earns her the UDPride Player of the Game. The Flyers are working the ball throughout the field very well and have two or three options at nearly every turn. Beth McHugh continues to be dangerous on offense and if the Flyers can do a better job of slipping diagonal balls through the flat back lines of the A-10 to streaking teammates like McHugh, Bushman, or Aschenbrener, goals will come even easier. Corner kicks are still a work in progress as no one has been able to put a consistent header on goal, but the fact that UD is getting so many corner kicks speaks of Dayton’s dominance in the field of play. Freshman Jessica Melvin continues to provide a spark off the bench and the combination of Nina DiGuardi and Erin Showalter stacked up the middle at sweeper and stopper give Dayton the best defensive combination in the conference.

Dayton goes back on the road next week with stops at St. Bonaventure and Duquesne. There’s no other way to say it than this: the Flyers have no business losing to either team and should bury them. Which means the A-10 race is shaping up to be a barnburner heading into the last weekend of the season if UD continues to improve from week to week. The Flyers still aren’t good enough to simply show up and mail it in. The second half Sunday afternoon against LaSalle proved that. But the first half also proved that Dayton is now the top dog in the conference when they bring the heat. We’ll know in a few days if they delivered the goods.