DDLFC Lady Lions vs Washington Spirit Reserves Recap
Dayton – The Dayton Dutch Lions FC Women (6-2-1, 19pts) played the Washington Spirit Reserves,( 7-0-3, 24pts) at DOC Stadium Saturday evening. This was the third meeting for the teams, being the first at home for Dayton. Washington leads the Southeastern Conference of the W-League. Dayton fell tonight to Washington 2-4.
Both teams began cautiously, possessing patiently waiting for an opportunity to push forward.
Washington earned the first opportunities with three corners in the first twenty minutes, but the Dayton defense closed in, blocking and clearing the ensuing shots.
Dayton had their first shot on goal in the twenty seventh minute when Ode Fulutudilu took the ball down the left and cut across shooting high from about twenty five yards out. Washington’s keeper Katelyn Jensen jumped and snatched it out of the air denying the Lions a goal.
A ball over Washington’s defense bounced in front of Dayton’s Meghan Blank, she sprinted to the goal and fired but the ball went straight to the keeper.
Dayton earned their first corner kicks shortly after Fulutudilu pushed down the middle and shot hard and high leaving Washington’s keeper no choice but to punch the ball out to the side.
Play came back the other direction quickly however and Dayton’s defense struggled to contain a sprinting Sarah Zadrazil. With a quick touch she found Margaret Purce who slotted the ball past Dayton’s keeper in the thirty sixth minute for a goal.
Dayton’s keeper Ayana Parker came up big for the Lions in the forty first and forty second minutes dropping to the ground outstretched, saving multiple shots.
Dayton went into the locker room trailing Washington by one.
Washington came out strong in the second half, moving the ball with quicker pace. It didn’t take long for them to add another goal. Moving the ball down the left side, Erika Nelson passed to Megan Dougherty-Howard. Getting space she shot to the far, lower right corner.
Washington earned another goal in the fifty seventh minute as Andi Sullivan went down the middle and scored putting her team up by three.
Dayton answered however in the fifty eighth minute. Randi DeLong dribbled right to left and put the ball in the far corner putting the Lions on the board.
As the half continued play went end to end, with both teams trying to find the goal again. Both keepers were challenged and defenses were pressed.
The seventy third minute saw Washington’s Dougherty-Howard chip the ball into the Dayton final third. An unfortunate touch rolled past Parker for an own goal.
The Lions were not finished and in the eighty second minute Fulutudilu who had been knocking on the Spirits door all game found space and shot, scoring a second for Dayton.
The final score; Dayton Dutch Lions FC Women 2, Washington Spirit Reserves 4.
Coach Macleod had this to say regarding the Lion’s performance: “We are coming in and we are playing against last year’s W-League runners up and a team that is on top of the conference. We had a game plan for the first half and I thought we worked it pretty well. This is a team that if you make a mistake they punish you. They keep possession and you end up chasing it. All in all I thought they did pretty well considering the circumstances and Washington deserved the win .”
The Dayton Dutch Lions FC Women (6-3-1) travel to play the Charlotte Lady Eagles (6-1-2) Friday, July 17th at 7pm at Queens Sports Complex. The following day, Saturday, July 18, at 7pm they play the Atlanta Lady Silverbacks (3-5-3) at Atlanta Silverbacks Park.