Late equalizer by Schwartzendruber brings Dayton Dutch Lions FC a point after playing a man down the whole second half
Sunday, July 14, 2013. DAYTON, OH …. The Dayton Dutch Lions (7-4-6) found themselves on the hot seat, but managed to pull out a tie with the USL Pro’s top-ranked Orlando City Lions (11-2-5) on a muggy Sunday evening in Beavercreek’s Miami Valley Hospital Stadium.
Orlando shot out of the gate with an early offensive thrust dominated by strong possession-oriented style, putting Dayton’s Brock Granger, Gregory Preciado and Shane Smith on the defensive front throughout the first half. Although Orlando controlled the game the first chance was for Eli Garner when he was sent deep but the ball went just wide of the Orlando's goalie coming out. In the 24th minute Orlando scored the opening goal, when Dennis Chin pounced on confusion in the box after Dayton keeper Matt Williams dropped a ball and Chin was there to put the ball in the open goal. After the goal Dayton started to play better finding it's way through the midfield. After an attack resulting in a corner kick, Tjeerd Westdijk managed to make himself huge in the Orlando box and, attempting to put his foot on a well-placed corner kick, skipped the ball to Shintaro Harada who buried it to the Orlando back post for a Dayton goal, equalizing in 35th minute. it was Harada's first goal since his debut for the Lions in April. The game seemed to go into halftime with a tie until the 43rd minute, when Orlando City’s James O’Conner dribbled all the way from the back in the final third without being attacked, had a give and go with Sapong, and found himself wide open before Wiliams who had no chance bringing the game to 2-1 at the half.
Coach Jack Hermans, filling in for Head Coach Patrick Bal who was suspended after his red card in the Crew game, noted at this point the entire Dayton team decided to step up and to do what was needed. Remco Klaasse was brought on the field for Shane Smith for some more offensive power. However, only one minute into the second half, Dayton’s Harada was ejected from the game with his 2nd yellow card of the night and Dayton had to play the remainder of the game one man down. Although Orlando was controlling the game from then on, Dayton lucked out with a golden opportunity in the 59th minute when a long ball was accidentally hit by an Orlando arm in the box and Joel DeLass nailed a PK for his 6th (5 in pk's) goal of the season, and the game was tied 2-2. But lady luck eluded the Dayton team a bit later when Dayton keeper Matt Williams took down an Orlando player in the outside corner of the box after a miscommunication. Besides a yellow card Orlando was awarded a PK, giving Orlando City’s Sapong the opportunity to pushed them ahead, 3-2. Still, the Lions did not give up and Bardsley went one on one with the Orlando goalie on a breakaway but he saved Bardsley's shot from close range. A crucial moment about just after that when the Lions' off sides trap did not work and Orlando went to Williams with 2 players. Williams came up big and took the ball keeping the Lions in the game. Five minutes before the end of the game Dayton got another huge opportunity when Klaasse was sent deep and went into the box from the right and his cross was missed by several players and went in front of goal. Dayton's mental strength showed again though when Brandon Swartzendruber, flanked by Joe Broekhuizen, came into the game playing with 5 forwards. Schwartzendruber had an immediate impact when he was aggressive on the ball and beautifully volleyed a shot from 16 yards out to the top right corner to tie the game 3-3 in the 89th minute. Orlando tried to get the win in the 3 minutes of stoppage time but the Lions defense stood strong to pick up an important point.
Coach Hermans was happy with the efforts of the team: “The first half was a little lackadaisical, starting with the warmup. There is a slight change, the head coach is not here, which is a little different, but I told the boys ‘It’s not changing, it’s your game, you can do this.’ And they did.”
Line up: Williams, Lord, Presciado, Granger (Kissinger), Smith (Klaasse), DeLass, Harada, Khutsidze (Broekhuizen), Bardsley (Madigan), Westdijk, Garner (Schwartzendruber)
The Dutch Lions travel and take on some more tough teams for the next three games, beginning with the Charleston Battery (7-5-6) on July 19. Dayton then plays the Charlotte Eagles (8-2-8) on July 20, and faces the Harrisburg City Islanders on July 24. They return home to the Frank Zink Miami Valley Hospital Stadium on Friday, July 26th, facing the Antigua Barracudas (0-19-0). Tuesday they host 2013 English FA Cup Winners Wigan Athletic for an international friendly at Wertz Stadium in Piqua. The game starts at 7pm. tickets can still be purchased online or at the gate.