The Dayton Dutch Lions Tie the Columbus Crew Reserves, 4-4, in an intense match
Dayton Dutch Lions News Release -- www.dutchlionsfc.com
Saturday, June 8, 2013. DAYTON, OH … The Dayton Dutch Lions (4-2-3) met the Columbus Crew Reserves (2-3-1) on Dayton’s home turf in Beavercreek in front of a full stand with 1,621 fans (3rd highest sofar) for an action-packed game, ending in a 4-4 draw.
Dayton’s Coach Patrick Bal acknowledged the intensity and worried early on about the quick pace of the match. “There was so much space between the lines and our defense was one on one a lot of the time.” He explained, “(The Crew) are fast and they play more direct. Our midfielders would receive the ball and touch it several times and pass. These guys open up, pass, and their strikers are already moving, so everything’s a notch quicker. And we were sometimes just a little late.”
The Crew went on the offensive early, creating multiple opportunities with galloping attempts into the box. In a game characterized by quick play and intense pressure by both teams, Columbus drew first blood, with the Crew’s Kyle Hyland serving it up to the head of Ryan Finley who found the net in the 6th minute for the Crew, 1-0. Fifteen minutes into the game, Dayton began organizing their offense, quickly producing an opportunity for Eli Garner to creep up the left flank, past the Crew’s Kevan George, and onto the waiting foot of Gibson Bardsley who nailed it in for the tie 1-1.
A Crew handball in the box in the 27th minute produced a Dayton goal, which Joel DeLass deftly played to the left corner on the penalty kick, putting the Dutch Lions ahead, 2-1. The Crew took advantage of a Dayton foul in the 36th minute and Konrad Warzycha’s dropping free kick found the back of the Dutch Lions’ net to tie things up for Columbus, 2-2. The battle continued, and a frustrated Crew’s Ethan Finlay pushed his mark in the box for a PK in stoppage. Joel DeLass calmly chucked it in on Crew Keeper Matt Lampson’s incorrect diving right guess, with Dayton going ahead 3-2 to end the half.
The intensity continued in the second half, when Columbus’ Warzycha took a touch and quickly played the ball out wide to Ryan Finley in the advanced flank. Finley served the ball into Dayton’s near post, but Dutch Lions’ keeper Matt Williams was able to punch the ball away, only for his clearance to find Finley’s feet for the jam back into the Dayton goal, bringing things up to 3-3. The 68th minute found the Dayton defense in an eerily confused state, and an easy ball bouncing just inside the left post from a Ben Speas to Bernardo Anor jumble caught Dayton’s keeper Williams flat-footed and unsuspecting for the Columbus go-ahead, 4-3. Once again the Dutch Lions answered with their own roar, when an 89th minute corner kick drifted into a sea of Dutch Orange, finding Gregory Preciado who cleanly tapped it to the Crew-taunting Shane Smith who stung the Crew again for the 4-4 tie. Dayton was never satisfied, and Coach Bal praised his side’s effort: “This team has a huge heart--they’ve shown us this so many times already.”
Line up: Williams, Lord (Kissinger), Presciado, Granger (Broekhuizen), Smith, DeLass, Harada, Khutsidze (Schwartzendruber), Bardsley (Madigan), Klaasse, Garner
Media coverage FOX 45
Interviews after the game GemCitySports
- Joel DeLass
- Shane Smith
- Patrick Bal
The Dayton Dutch return to their league schedule with a home match against visiting VSI Tampa Bay FC (6-3-1) on Sunday, June 16 at 6:30 in The Miami Valley Hospital Stadium in Beavercreek. The Dutch Lions then hit the road to the west coast for two re-matches, starting with the Phoenix FC Wolves (2-8-3) on Jun 21 and then traveling to Los Angeles to face the LA Blues (5-5-4) on June 23rd.