Men’s Soccer Pours Four Goals on Western Illinois
By: Steve Boltri – Staff Writer
The Dayton men’s soccer team secured their first victory of the season, a 4-1 win, against the Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks on Friday, a cool, rainy evening at Baujan Field.
The Flyers started strong, scoring within 45 seconds after an Alvaro Navarro free kick was was headed home by senior defender Dillon Nino. The rest of the first half consisted of chippy play that saw Dayton come close to surrendering their lead. The chippiness continued into the second half and the Fighting Leathernecks drew level in the 50th minute from a goal that was seemingly gifted by a series of sloppy plays from the Dayton defenders.
Coach Dennis Currier said in his postgame comments, “We had some sloppy play and let them back in the game but I thought we did really well opening up the game to get the goals there late.”
From that point on, the Flyers dominated the run of play and deservedly scored three more goals to grab the win. Sophomore Rok Taneski scored the game-winner in the 60th minute, calmly finishing a beautifully weighted through ball from Navarro. Freshman Thor Helgason tidily finished off a precise cross from fellow Scandinavian freshman Jonas Fjeldberg in the 75th minute. Sophomore Daniel Dos Santos finished it off in the 82nd minute after a wonderful curling effort from the left foot of Navarro struck the post and fell kindly to Dos Santos, who slotted the ball into an empty net.
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The Flyers really turned up their level of play in the second half, led by senior Alvaro Navarro, who was the Flyers’ most creative, impactful player on the pitch. Despite not scoring, he made the players around him better and helped fuel the attack.
Coach Currier said, “We’ve got some really good attacking players and they’re gonna come out if we just stay simple, and you got to see some exciting soccer in the second half.”
Getting goals from four different players is any coach’s dream, and being the player to score just one of those is a special feeling as well.
“It feels great (to score the winning goal),” said Taneski after the game. “We started strong and then calmed down a little bit, but after half time we stuck together as a team.”
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This game was certainly a team win that showed skill, grit, and determination.
The Flyers are now 1-1-1 on the season and hope to grab their second win on Sunday against the Belmont Bruins in Nashville, Tennessee.
Photo Courtesy of Steve Miller/Sports Editor