Men’s Soccer: Flyers Drop A-10 Quarterfinal To Fordham

By: Brendan Zdunek – Staff Writer

After any sporting event, especially one with high stakes, one can clearly see the joy of victory in the victor’s expressions and the absolute heartbreak of defeat on another’s. Unfortunately, the Dayton men’s soccer team sported the latter following their loss in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament to the Fordham Rams, 3-2.

“We knew we were facing a very good team and we knew [the game] was going to have a lot of energy,” said Head Coach Dennis Currier. “All you can ask for with your team is that they give everything they have and they left everything on the field, but it just didn’t go our way tonight.”

The Flyers, a team ranked in the top 10 nationally in shots and shots-on-goal per game, only got off five shots after averaging 16.2 for the season. The Rams took advantage of their offensive opportunities and scored in the 35th minute. Later, in the 41st minute, Flyer midfielder Jonas Fjeldberg came close tying the game as his shot just hit the right post.

For most of the second half, Dayton had difficulties generating offense and were committing a number of penalties as well, but they were able to hold off Fordham from extending the lead any further. Then, in the 65th minute, UD midfielder Thor Helgason put one in to tie it up at 1-1, sending Baujan Field into a frenzy.
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The tie was short-lived, however, as the Rams scored again in the 75th minute to make it 2-1.

The sudden offensive surge continued only three minutes later when Flyer forward James Haupt scored to tie it up again at 2-2. But just five minutes after the second equalizer, Fordham netted another, giving them a 3-2 lead with just eight minutes to go.

That score held, and Baujan’s excitement was snuffed out as quickly as it ignited.

“We were really just pushing forward trying to go for the win,” Haupt said. “We ended up getting two nice goals but we got exposed a few times and it happens. We left it all on the field and that’s all we can ask.”

With the loss, Dayton ends its season at 9-8-2 overall and 6-2 in conference. Despite the deflating finish, Currier is optimistic for improvement in the next season.

“Ultimately, we got a little bit better from last year. We saw a lot of exciting things in the second half of the season and we got to learn from that and see if we can’t come into next year with a quicker start.”

Photo Courtesy of Steve Miller and Dayton Athletics Communications