Lions Win At Home To Continue Hot Streak
The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (1-6-2) welcomed the Southern West Virginia King’s Warriors (3-2-4) to DOC Stadium for the first of two games against Dutch Lions’ teams. Dayton came out the winner tonight scoring 2 to SW Virginia’s 1. The Cincinnati Dutch Lions play SW Virginia next on Friday at 7:30pm at DOC Stadium.
Dayton and SW Virginia started cautiously. The King’s Warriors went to the long ball, putting the ball in the air for their forwards to try and outrun the Lions’ back line. Dayton caught on quickly though and shut the visiting team’s long game down.
Dayton put together a series of passes and runs in the tenth minute that led to two chances on the King’s Warriors goal. Michael Frasca took the first shot for the Lions and Nick Dowdell followed up with another shot, but SW Virginia’s keeper Steeven Raymont was up for the challenge.
In the fifteenth minute the SW Virginia forwards went to work and crossed and shot. This time it was Lion’s keeper Chris Froschaur who was tested, but came up big with the save. The King’s Warriors continued to keep the Dayton defense busy.
The twenty-eighth minute Dayton pushed forward into the left corner of the SW Virginia’s half. Michael Frasca passed back to Entienne Esajas who spun quickly and shot hard, sending the ball up over keeper Raymont and into the top right corner for the first goal of the game.
Dayton came under heavy pressure in the final minutes of the first half as SW Virginia tried to tie up the game. The Dayton defense was tested repeatedly as the King’s Warriors moved the ball around in front of the Lions goal. Shots by the King’s Warriors forwards were blocked and saved.
The half ended with the score Dayton Dutch Lions 1, SW Virginia King’s Warriors 0.
The second half started the same way the first half ended with SW Virginia on the attack and Dayton trying to contain. It didn’t take long for SW Virginia to add a goal of their own. In the forty seventh minute Olayinka Lawal received a ball from Samuel Blackman and fired the ball into the Lion’s goal to tie the game at one.
Dayton began to find a rhythm as the pace of the game increased. As they found their feet, the Lions created opportunities in the fifty-third and fifty fifth minute but they missed the goal just wide. Again in the sixty-fourth minute Dayton broke loose from the SW Virginia defense. The chance yielded a corner kick but nothing more.
From there play went end to end with both teams trying for the go ahead goal. The eightieth minute Dayton’s Frasca had a chance off a through ball, but SW Virginia’s keeper pushed the ball out.
In the eighty-second minute, quick passing and movement by the Lions led Tayron Leandro on the right to find Anthony Moore in front of the King’s Warriors goal. The SW Virginia keeper lost the one on one battle as Moore put the Lion’s ahead.
SW Virginia came on strong in the last minutes pushing their keeper up into the Lion’s box looking to capitalize on a corner kick. Dayton’s keeper finished strong grabbing the ball and ending any chances. The game ended; Dayton Dutch Lions 2, SW Virginia King’s Warriors 1.
Dayton’s Coach Bal shared these comments: “It was a really tough game. SW Virginia was a really good team. They knocked the ball around really well. They had more possession overall. I really liked when we had the ball. We really played well. We were dominating at times, but with ball possession. When we didn’t have the ball we were struggling, especially in the first half. They overran us a few times and we were lucky to be up at the half. In the second half, the same thing happened in the first ten minutes, but after that we turned it around again. That’s a big step we made because a couple of weeks ago, we would have lost this game easily. We would have quit running with them and given up. But, this time we kept playing and we created chances in the second half, we started believing in each other.”
The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (2-6-2) play at DOC Stadium against the Pittsburgh Riverhouds (1-5-2) Thursday, July 9th at 7:30pm. The Dayton Men play the second game of a double header, with the Women playing at 5pm, on Saturday, July 11th at 7:30pm when they take on the Michigan Bucks (8-0-1).