In the rainy Amherst weather, the Massachusetts women’s soccer team struggled to find its footing, ultimately falling to the Dayton Flyers 3-2.
Coming off a tense draw in their previous match, the Minutewomen (9-4-2, 4-2-1 Atlantic 10) entered the game against the Flyers (11-3-0, 5-1-0 A-10) strong. However, despite aggressive play, UMass came up short against the Dayton squad.
In the 60th minute, Dayton’s Laney Smith, capitalizing on a quick cross, scored off of a header into the left side of UMass goalkeeper Bella Mendoza’s net. With limited coverage on Smith prior to the header, the goal highlighted the Minutewomen’s continuous struggles in the defensive end. Despite efforts to regain possession and connect passes, UMass couldn’t break through.
“I think defensively it was our worst performance of the year,” head coach Jason Dowiak said.
The Flyers came out hot, earning their first goal in the 12th minute of play. Awarded a total of 11 corner kicks throughout the match, Dayton capitalized off of their fourth corner when Kyra Karfonta skillfully bent the ball into the left side of the goal before it hit the post and bounced out. After a brief moment of deliberation, the head referee confirmed that the ball had indeed crossed the line, tallying a goal for the Flyers and giving them their first advantage of the game.
The Minutewomen quickly responded, evening the score just six minutes later. In the 18th minute, Emma Pedolzky advanced the ball into open space and connected with Karina Groff just outside the 18-yard box. With Dayton’s goalkeeper rushing to challenge, Groff calmly lifted the ball over her, finding the back of the net for UMass’s first shot on target of the match.
Emerging from halftime with the score tied against the Flyers, UMass was unable to capitalize on its momentum going into the second half. The Minutewomen struggled to connect passes and assert control over the match, allowing Dayton to dictate the pace of play.
“[This] isn’t something we’ve seen all year at home,” Dowiak said. “So, I hope it’s a one-off.”
After Smith’s initial goal, she managed to penetrate past the Minutewomen’s defense once again. With a clear, clean shot from outside the 18-yard box, Smith found a pocket in the bottom right corner of the net in the 71st minute, further solidifying Dayton’s dominance in the match.
With aggression ramping up, fouls were flying left and right, resulting in yellow cards handed to UMass’ Kelly Pease in the 73rd minute and one to the Flyers’ Noel Blain in the 87th.
In the 81st minute, Dayton committed a handball foul in the box, granting the Minutewomen a penalty shot. Lining up face-to-face with the Flyers’ goalkeeper Batoul Reda, Ella Curry struck the ball into the middle of the net, narrowing the score to 3-2.
Despite UMass’s efforts to equalize before the final whistle, Dayton held onto its lead as the match concluded after 90 minutes.
“We didn’t rise to the challenge as well as our opponent,” Dowiak said. “And we can’t do that against a really good opponent.”
Following the loss, the Minutewomen slipped from first to fourth in the A-10 standings.
“Now we have to do everything we can to continue to keep ourselves in the best possible position for the postseason,” Dowiak said when asked about the looming A-10 playoffs. “So now we just have to get back to the basics.”
UMass will travel to Illinois to play Loyola Chicago on Sunday, Oct. 20. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Kate Endres can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Kate_e_endres.
