DAYTON MEN'S SOCCER DRAWS WITH NO. 13 SLU
DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton men's soccer team fought the 13th-ranked Saint Louis Billikens to a 2-2 draw on Saturday night at Baujan Field.
It was Senior Night for the Flyers with Ryan Lyn, Greg Enstone, and Ryan Peterson being honored before the game.
"This was a great college game and tremendous atmosphere to play in," said Head Coach Dennis Currier. "I felt our team played with everything they had tonight and outplayed a quality Saint Louis team in the second half. We hit the post three times and scored two excellent goals. It was heartbreaking to have the controversial penalty kick called against us late in the game. The game isn't always fair and we have to keep pushing forward. We are in the last stretch of the regular season and we need to build momentum and peak at the right time. The team has continued to get better each game."
The Flyers took the first lead of the game in the ninth minute with a goal by sophomore James Haupt on a breakaway. Junior Amass Amankona provided the assist to Haupt, who dribbled pass the keeper for his fourth score of the season.
Saint Louis took little time to answer though and countered with a goal of its own in the 13th minute, evening the score at 1-1.
Despite the early goals for both teams, the pace of the game was controlled by the defenses as there were only two shots on goal in the first 25 minutes.
At the break, Dayton and Saint Louis were deadlocked at 1-1. The Flyers and Billikens both had six total shots while UD led with two attempts on goal. There were 12 fouls and just one corner kick in the first half as well.
Dayton came out of the gate in the second half with an aggressive mentality and kept the ball in SLU's defensive third of the field. Haupt nearly had a second goal just eight minutes into the second half, but his attempt just hit the crossbar and went over.
Saint Louis attempted to make a run of their own over the next 15 minutes and kept seven players on the Dayton side of the field, but the Flyer defense held strong.
In the 77th minute, Amankona received a perfectly-weighted pass from sophomore Brian Richards at the top of the 18-yard box and curled a shot to the back post for his fourth goal of the season. That put the Flyers on top of the 13th-ranked Billikens 2-1 with less than a quarter of an hour remaining in the contest.
Dayton looked like it was going to hold on, but fouled a Billiken player in the box, giving Saint Louis a penalty with less than three minutes left in regulation. Anthony Manning converted the kick and tied the game up at 2-2.
That would mean overtime for the Flyers for the sixth time this season.
Both overtimes went quickly without either team truly threatening the opposing goal. That ended Senior Night for the Flyers with a 2-2 draw, but a crucial point in conference play.
Haupt and Amankona provided the scoring for Dayton while Amankona and Richards picked up assists. The Flyers and Billikens were even with 16 shots apiece and five shots on goal. Goalkeeper Chris Froschauer recorded three saves.
The Flyers (6-4-4, 2-1-2 A-10) will host Western Michigan Tuesday in non-conference action at 7 p.m. at Baujan Field.
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