FLYERS BATTLE TO DOUBLE OVERTIME DRAW WITH WMU

DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton men’s soccer team played its third straight overtime game and ended the evening with a 2-2 draw to Western Michigan.

Dayton got off to a rough start as a costly turnover in the Flyers’ third of the field just three minutes into the game resulted in Western Michigan’s opening goal.

The host Flyers attempted to counter by pressing more guys forward and even played with different line-ups in order to get fresh bodies in the attack.

Through the first 45 minutes though, Dayton was unable to answer and went into the locker room at halftime with a 1-0 deficit despite out-shooting the Broncos 7-5. UD had three attempts on target as well. The aggressive play defensively was even on both sides with 15 fouls between the two teams in the first half.

WMU threatened early in the second half as well with a striker only facing Dayton goalkeeper Chris Froschauer for a goal, but the junior stopper kept the Flyers in the game with a clutch save.

In the 57^th minute, Dayton midfielder Daniel Spencer controlled a pass in the box and turned to cross to a waiting Greg Enstone, but the Western Michigan defender deflected the ball into the back of the net for the Flyer goal. That evened the score at 1-1 with the momentum in Dayton’s favor.

The Flyers’ pace resulted in another Bronco mistake in the 71^st minute when WMU fouled Dayton junior Michael Frasca in the box. Junior Amankona stepped up and drilled the penalty home to put the Flyers up 2-1. The goalkeeper guessed correctly, but the Ghana native’s shot was too powerful for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

That lead would not last long though as the Broncos answered in the 78^th minute with a shot that skipped pass Froschauer thanks to the wet conditions for WMU’s second goal of the contest.

Neither team was able to score any further in regulation and Dayton was going to overtime for the third straight game and the seventh time this season.

Both teams were able to get shot attempts on goal in the first overtime period early on. The tempo of the game was upbeat despite the fact that players were nearing 100 minutes of play.

In the second overtime, Enstone had a great header attempt off the free kick from Frasca, but it went just wide of the far post, getting the Dayton fans back into the contest.

The second extra period went by without a goal and the Flyers ended the night with a 2-2 tie against Western Michigan.

Dayton played 19 different players in the contest, including four freshmen. The Flyers totaled 15 shots, eight of which were on goal, while WMU recorded 14 shots. Dayton also had 21 fouls to the Broncos’ 16 in the match.

Amankona recorded Dayton’s goal while the other was contributed from the WMU defender. Froschauer recorded three saves in the game.

The Flyers (6-4-5, 2-1-2 A-10) will host Fordham Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the home finale for Dayton.