Saturday, June 1, 2013
DAYTON, Ohio –A hot sticky day at Miami Valley Hospital Stadium provided an entertaining and dramatic match between the Dayton Dutch Lions and the Carolina Elite Cobras. The Cobras came to play. Their aggressive style of play out-Dutched the Dutch Lions in the first half and they were able to build from the back through the center and create chances for their strong, athletic forwards. The Dutch Lions struggled to build from the back and relied on the long ball, which did not pan out for them. A sobering halftime speech by Dutch Lions’ head coach Sid Van Druenen served to ignite Dayton’s women and the second half was a different story.
Carolina’s intensity produced several shots throughout the first half, but Dutch Lions’ goalkeeper Helena McCurdy brought her A-game. McCurdy earned her pay this day with several athletic saves that kept the Cobras from running away with the match. In the 14th minute her instinctual play denied three Cobra shots in the space of 15 second as they hammered the Dutch Lions defense in a scrum directly in front of goal. McCurdy continued to deny the Cobras until near midway through the half. In the 19th minute, Cobra defender Blakely Mattern received a cross from forward Claire Joyce and placed a ball just outside the reach of McCurdy and into the goal. Carolina 1, Dayton 0. A substitution by Dayton Dutch Lions coach Van Druenen in the 24th minute saw defender Taylor Dearbaugh come in for forward Ashley Miltko. This switch provided more defensive presence for the Dutch Lions and the Cobras were kept scoreless for the rest of the half. Unfortunately, Dayton’s offense was not able to get going. Weak passes, unchased through balls, and offsides calls kept Dayton scoreless as well. The first half ended 0-1, Carolina advantage.
The second half began with the same intensity from Carolina. This half, however, saw a different Dutch Lions side take the field. The Dutch Lions women matched the aggressiveness of the Carolina Cobras and created many opportunities for themselves. Dutch Lion forwards Juliana Libertin, Emilie Fillion, and Natalia Daniels were the recipients of beautiful serves from midfielders Taylor Dearbaugh, Kelly DeNiro, and Kathryn Dolesh, who controlled the middle and prevented the Cobras middies from mounting an attack. The Dayton forwards were very active in the second half and passed quickly and accurately to each other to create chances. In the 56th minute, Libertin crossed to Fillion from left of the box. Fillion could not quite get underneath it and at the last minute jumped and fired a bicycle kick that blasted into the back of the net. Dayton equalizes and the score is tied 1-1. Minutes later the Dutch Lions women saw their best chance to take the lead. A brilliant give and go between Fillion, Daniels, and Libertin created a shot for Libertin that just missed wide left. The 64th minute saw the best chance of a go-ahead goal for Carolina. Despite an organized Dutch Lion defense, a furious Cobra assault got off a strong shot from directly in front of goal that McCurdy was able to stop. A frustrated Carolina side was evident in the 72nd and 79th minutes as Cobra forwards India Trotter and Hannah Gmerek each received cautions from the referees for over-aggressive play. Dayton continued to press and mount attacks that began in the back and built through the middle but fell victim to Carolina’s gameplan that utilized the offsides trap. Both teams went into attack mode in the final minutes of the match, neither appearing to want to leave with a draw, but the offsides trap and strong play by McCurdy prevented any more goals. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
After the match, Dayton head coach Van Druenen was thoughtful about the difference between his sides’ play in the two halves, “The most important thing that changed was that in the second half we played with confidence and we fought hard. The first half we were flat, there was no intention, long balls to nowhere. I told them at halftime, there’s a lot of stuff we can do different. There’s no sense in correcting things if you don’t want to be here. They all nodded and agreed and at least the second half the intensity was there.” When asked about the result Van Druenen was less than pleased, “I’m disappointed with a tie. If we played the first half the same way, we win 2 or 3 to 0.”
The Dayton Dutch Lion’s Womens’ team hit the road for most of June facing VSI Tampa Bay FC on Saturday, June 8th, and then two re-matches, starting with the Charlotte Lady Eagles on June 15th and the Carolina Cobras on June 16. The DDL Women’s team returns home for a Friday night game, June 28th game in Miami Valley Hospital Stadium, Beavercreek, hosting the Atlanta Silverbacks.