Women’s Soccer Recap: Flyers Soar To An Opening Night Win Over Miami

Michael Crouchley
Sports Editor

More than 1,000 fans were roaring in the student section at Baujan Field to cheer on Dayton women’s soccer in the season opener against Miami University Thursday night. The Flyers repaid the favor by putting on a dazzling display, beating the RedHawks 5-1.

The star of the night was first-year forward Alexis Goins, who slotted home two goals in her Dayton debut.

“It was really fun honestly,” Goins said. “My teammates are the reason that I scored, they got me the ball in places that I could just have an easy finish.”

Goins got the start on opening night and didn’t take long to score her first goal at UD. In the fifth minute, she ran onto a pass from senior Micayla Livingston and tucked it into the far corner to put the Flyers up 1-0.

“It was really nice to just settle in,” Goins said.

Despite the early lead, the rest of the first half was relatively quiet. UD registered seven more shots but failed to extend the lead before half time.

“I told them we needed to be better in a lot of different areas,” head coach Eric Golz said. “We allowed [Miami] to have too much possession, we allowed them to dictate play.”

Golz halftime speech worked, and the Flyers came out firing on all cylinders.

Senior Caroline Mink scored a beautiful goal nine minutes into the half, chesting the ball down and then lifting it over the keeper and into the net. Dayton added another goal three minutes later when Laney Huber’s cross caused a Miami player to score against her own team. 

“I thought we came to life in the attacking phase in the second half,” Golz said. “We knew once we got one that is was going to create some momentum, and we thought we could keep it coming.”

As the game went on, it became clear that depth was one of Dayton’s strengths. The Flyers used 11 substitutes compared to Miami’s three. Dayton took advantage of Miami’s fatigue, and Goins scored her second goal in the 76th minute. 

Miami answered with a consolation goal one minute later, but their celebration was short-lived. Senior Jordan Pauley fired a penalty kick into the top corner in the 79th minute to put the game away for good.

“We were committed to playing within our identity,” Golz said. “I thought we played tough. We played together. There’s a really good sense of team and culture within the group right now.”

The Flyers will be looking to maintain their perfect record this Sunday, when they travel to Illinois to take on the University of Illinois at 2 p.m. 

Photos courtesy of Christian Cubacub