Dayton Dutch Lions FC concede two late goals to lose the lead in the final home match
DAYTON, Ohio – The Charlotte Eagles were able to bounce back from 2-0 deficit i the last 5 minutes to tie the Dayton Dutch Lions 2-2 Saturday August 11 at Miami Valley South Stadium in the last home game of the Lion’s season in front of of 1,024 people.
Charlotte Eagles (10-10-2), coming off a 3-0 win against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds last night, started strong with a wide shot by Cheyne Roberts. The Lions (4-11-7) struck back in the 13th minute when Eli Garner’s shot went off the top bar and Kissinger’s rebound went high. Dutch Lions’ goalie Matt Williams kept the match scoreless when a cross by Roberts found Mauicio Salles De Allencar but William’s was able to get his gloves on the ball and Greg Preciado cleared it.
Eli Garner made a break for goal in the 34th minute, but keeper Clinton Irwin was able to push the ball to the side and collect it before a Lion could follow up. Two minutes later, the Eagles fouled the Lions 40 yards from goal. The kick by Taylor Lord found Garner’s right foot as he volleyed the ball into the back of the net for the first goal of the game.
The Lions started the second half strong with Gibson Bardsley coming off the bench to score in the 47th minute with a run to the line and after a deflection off Irwin, a second shot went under the goalie’s leg. Less than 10 minutes late, Bardsley had a hard shot right up the middle, but Irwin was able to catch the ball. Forward Chris Salvaggione almost put the Eagle’s on the board in the 68th minute with a header just skimming over the top bar. In a counter, Bardsley won the ball near the half and took it to the end line outrunning his opponent with Garner wide open at the second post but Barsdley's shot/cross missed both the goals and Garner by an inch keeping the score 2-0. The Eagles tried to pressure more the last fifteen minutes and Williams had a great save of a close range shot that he pushed just over the cross bar. The game seemed to end with a 2-0 score but giving too much space in the center midfield the Eagles got the momentum back in the 85th minute scoring 2-1 with Salvaggione coming into the top right cover of the box shooting the ball in the far left corner.
As the end of the game approached, Charlotte pushed everyone forward, even the goalie went up for a corner kick. In stoppage time, the move paid off. a ball was not cleared in the Lions' defense and was crossed in from the right and shot at goal but Williams had a great save punching the ball to the right but two Charlotte players were wide open and the ball fell to Josh Ride on the left side of the box as he had an open shot at goal leaving the Lions frustrated giving away the 4th home game this season in stoppage time.Although solid in 80% of the game, Dutch Lions’ Coach Ivar van Dinteren expressed disappointment with the team’s resulting tie. “When you are up by two with 5 minutes to go and also have many chances to make 3, 4, and you don’t finish, then a 2-2 performance is not good,” he said. “You know the old saying, ‘If you don’t score yourself, the other team will. We struggle "killing" the game when we are up. if we would have had that this year we would be close to a playoff spot.” But we also showed lately (4 wins and 3 ties in the last 7 home games) that we can beat anyone and became a team that is hard to beat. Also the crowd was great tonight.
That’s what we want, of course. I have to thank all the fans for their continued support – it gives us wings, it’s what we need.”
He continued with nothing but praise for Joel DeLass, the team’s Captain who played every minute of every game. “Joel DeLass’ professionalism is incredible, and even with injury, he is always playing, always working.” He attributes this to DeLass’ commitment to the game. “When you work as hard as he does, when you eat and drink what you’re supposed to, then your chance of staying fit and overcoming injuries is much greater. He is remarkable, a true professional.”
Dayton will hit the road for back-to-back games to finish the season, meeting Orlando City (17-1-5) August 17 at 7:30 at the Florida Citrus Bowl, and the Charleston Battery (12-10-1) the next night at 7:30 at Blackbaud Stadium.