The Dayton Flyers and VCU Rams battled for the #2 seed in the upcoming A10 Tournament at Baujan Field, but a 1-1 2OT draw in the regular season finale pushed UD to the #3 seed. Needing a win to get the top seed in the opposing bracket to regular season champ LaSalle, the tie did little to affect the overall tournament path, but did drop the Flyers to 9-8-2 (5-2-1). The Rams finish the regular season at 9-4-5 (5-1-2).

In a match between a pair of teams that have turned the series into a competitive league rivalry, Sunday afternoon’s contest proved to be just as tight and nail-biting as the others. Both teams battled hard after the opening kickoff with a concerted attempt to find extended possession in the middle third of the field. At times, both sides found success. But more often, the opposing defenses did enough to disrupt the continuity of the opposing offense to keep the flow of the match exceedingly disjointed.

Junior Ashley Campbell had the best chances in the Flyer offense, due in no small part to her long strides and ability to get past the last VCU defender. But the Rams did well to cover the back end of their defense and tag-team the top goal scorer for the Flyers, limiting her open looks at the net.

Defensively, Dayton had trouble maintaining a clean posture in their defensive third. Loose balls and passes were a challenge all afternoon, making it difficult for UD to work the ball out of the back consistently and effectively. Short goal kicks also placed unnecessary pressure on the Flyer back line, forcing them into additional defending with runners coming directly at them in transition.

While the match was anything but crisp and well-played, it was nonetheless competitive and hard-fought. Neither side capitalized on their half-chances, while the best looks near the goal box were bottled up by the goalkeepers.

VCU broke the scoreless match in the 38th minute after beating a pair of Flyer midfielders about 40 yards from goal. Rewarded with open space along the right side, they crossed a ball to the near post where Megan Dell finished things off with a solid header behind the Dayton back line to put the Rams up 1-0. GK Heather Betancourt had no honest chance at the save.

The Rams held on to the lead for the remaining seven minutes of the first half. Dayton had trouble connecting passes together and squandered too many free kicks into the box with high, looping balls that were easy pick-offs by Ram GK Emma Kruse. Halftime stats were even on shots (7-7) while VCU owned the battle of corner kicks 3-0.

The Flyers stepped it up in the first 10 minutes of the second half and showed more urgency in the offensive end. But the best scoring chances were once again one-on-one attacks rather than quality pieces set up by sharing the rock and making runs off the ball. Switching the run of play to the weak side was also problematic as the pace of the game became too slow to take advantage of the width of the field.

Campbell made the most of what was in reality a half-chance at best in the 60th minute by beating a defender baseline, encroaching inside the 6yd box, and slipping a ball past the goalkeeper to an open net to even the match at 1-1. The shot was nearly from the baseline and with such a narrow angle to squeeze it in, Campbell definitely earned it the hard way.

The last 30 minutes of the half turned into a fitness struggle for both sides, but the Flyers appeared to suffer the most. Lacking energy to win loose balls or make quality first touches of the ball, the Flyers slowly lost the battle of possession in the midfield — though Mike Tucker’s defense held tough and made up for it. Without a couple important tackles or deflections of shots on frame, UD would have trailed once again.

VCU continued to demonstrate a fresher work rate late in the second half, pinning UD into a defensive bunker that was hard to dig out of. The passing remained sloppy, coughing up unforced turnovers that led to possession in the other direction. When the Flyers did get forward, the best scoring chances came on free kicks and corner kicks. Service was sub-par however and the VCU defense managed to clear or save the most dangerous opportunities.

Regulation ended with UD winning the battle for 2nd half shots on goal (10-6), while VCU edge Dayton in corner kicks 3-2.

Things got hot and juicy just three minutes into the first sudden death overtime when VCU defender Natalie Robles and Flyer forward Kelsey Smigel got into a shoving match while awaiting a dead-ball kick. The shoving turned to wrestling, and then perhaps a punch or two along the way. Both players were ejected with red cards, putting the match at 10 vs. 10 for the remainder of play.

The Flyers out-shot VCU 4-2 during a pair of 10-minute overtimes, including a 2-1 edge in corner kicks, but the scoring chances came and went and the match ended in a draw. Stats were fairly even as was the overall run of play, though the level of play was not especially good by either side over 110 minutes.

Dayton struggled all afternoon to corral their first touch, spraying balls all over the pitch on what seemed like routine traps and one-touches to teammates attempting to get open. The simplest of plays turned into complicated sequences of frustration both offensively and defensively. Hospital balls were short, late, or altogether off target. There was another goal or two out there for both offenses had the teams been cleaner and more efficient with their touches. It was a very competitive match, but not well played.

The tie does very little to affect the A10 Tournament seeding nor pending work at hand for the Flyers as the #2 and #3 seeds are both headed to the same side of the bracket. The good news is UD avoids #1 seed LaSalle until the A10 Finals. The not-so-good news is UD may need to get past VCU in order to make that happen. The Rams were more physical than Dayton at important junctures of the match, and the bump-and-run style of play seemed to negatively affect UD’s ability to get forward and create dangerous chances.

Hosted at Baujan Field, UD will battle #6 seed St. Joseph’s on Thursday at 7:30pm in the A10 Quarterfinals. The Hawks beat Dayton 3-1 earlier in the season.