Thursday, July 4, 2013
DAYTON, Ohio -- The Dayton Dutch Lions extended their undefeated streak to 10 games as goals by Eli Garner, Tjeerd Westdijk and Gibson Bardsley gave their side a 3-1 win against the Rochester Rhinos on Thursday afternoon at Beavercreek Stadium. Rochester had taken the lead, but the Dutch Lions roared back to solidify their playoff position.
Despite the rain, the flag waved proudly this Fourth of July as Dayton (6-2-5), exploded on to their home field and immediately went to work against Rochester (3-7-6). A quick ball sent up from the back in the opening minute to Bardsley resulted in a shot on goal that just missed wide of the far post.
Rochester began to find its feet as the half went on, and in the 26th minute went close to taking the lead as a shot from Gabe Latigue came back off the crossbar. The Rhinos took the lead in the 38th minute as a cross by Latigue found the head of Blake Brettschneider to put the Rhinos on the board.
The Dutch Lions found an equalizer in the 44th minute as Garner received a pass from Bardsley and made a run into the penalty area, where he wasted no time and put his shot in the back of the net, leaving the game tied at the halftime break.
The second half started with the Lions coming out strong again. In the 46th minute a ball up from Matt Weit found the head of Westdijk, who flicked the ball over a Rochester defender and gave Garner a great opportunity, only for his shot to go directly to Rhinos goalkeeper Kristian Nicht.
The Rhinos answered back two minutes later with Brettschneider getting open again near the Dutch Lions goal, and he wasted no time sending one across face of the net. However Dayton’s defense stepped up to prevent any balls from finding the back of the net.
The Dutch Lions took their first lead of the game in the 64th minute on a good move that was began by Shane Smith, who found Garner on the left. Garner’s cross found Bardsley on the right, and he centered for Westdijk to put away his finish. Dayton then added a third goal in the 80th minute when second-half substitute Joey Madigan made a run and crossed to Bardsley for an easy finish.
Rochester tried to get back into the game, and came close to pulling a goal back in the 90th minute when they received a free kick 25 yards from goal. The shot was on target, but Dayton goalkeeper Matt Williams made a diving save to push the ball behind and out for a corner. The Dutch Lions were able to see out their victory from there as they earned their seventh win of the season.
With upcoming games against some of the top teams in USL PRO in the coming weeks, this win meant a lot to Dayton, who for the first time have a shot at a spot in the playoffs.
“Thanks to this win, we have moved up to fifth place in the standings, which is a first in our team’s history," Dutch Lions coach Patrick Bal said. "We now have a 10-game undefeated streak. It wasn’t our best game, but we played hard and I am happy with the result.”
Dayton faces the Richmond Kickers (8-0-6) at home at Beavercreek Stadium on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. They then travel to Columbus to meet the Crew Reserve team (2-4-1) at the Crew Stadium on Wednesday, July 10th. For season and individual game tickets, visit the Dutch Lions website.