Lions close to first victory again
The Dayton Dutch Lions FC were close to their first victory of the season tonight but gave away a 1-0 lead to leave Sahlen's stadium (with close to 6000 spectators) with mixed feelings. It was Bardsley who opened the score in the first half scoring and substitute Quavas Kirk making the equalizer in the 73rd minute.
The first half started with both teams very composed and not putting too much pressure on their defenses. More than in the first game (1-0 Rochester) the Lions possessed the ball well building up from the back with Nixon Dias moving into the midfield several times. This also created the first chance of the game when Dias struck from 2o yards out just missing the upper right corner. Right after that the ball was cleared off the line by Banks to prevent the Lions from taking the lead. However, the Lions were able to score on the Rhinos the first time of the season after 6 games (they won 6 times 1-0) when Kyle Knotek went inside the box on the right side crossing it in low and Nixon Dias stepped over the ball so Bardsley had a clear shot from 12 yards out in the lower left corner. It was Bardsley's 2nd goal of the season. The lead seemed to be short when Banks got behind Presciado into the box on a long ball. Goalkeeper Matt Williams came off his goal line forcing Banks to shoot the ball over the cross bar from close range. This was the only real chance the Lions gave away all evening.
The second half Rochester came out more aggressive trying to tie the game. But the Lions were very organized and come out a few times dangerously using the speed of Bardsley and Garner on the left. On one of the counterattacks Bardsley beat Nicht who came out of his goal and had the goal wide open to score the 2-0. But Bardsley missed leaving the score only 1-0. Bardsley again almost scored in the 64th minute when he come to the first poston a cross from Garner from the left side but Nicht saved his kick from close by. Even with Dias forced to leave the game due to an injury DeLass took over perfectly in the back not giving anything away. It was on a corner kick from Banks that Rochester scored the equalizer with Kirk heading the ball in the right corner. Rochester pressed for the last 15 minutes but did not create any chance.
With the draw the Lions are 0-3-3. The team is traveling tonight to Harrisburg where they play again Saturday evening against the Harrisburg City Islanders.