Sunday, July 14, 2013
BEAVERCREEK, Ohio — The Dayton Dutch Lions got an 89th-minute equalizer from Brandon Swartzendruber to earn his side a 3-3 draw against Orlando City on Sunday evening at Beavercreek Stadium. Orlando had taken the lead on three separate occasions, but Dayton found an equalizer each time to earn a point despite being down to 10 men for most of the second half.
Dayton’s equalizer came through a well-played volley from Swartzendruber, brought on as a second-half substitute, who beat Kempin in the upper right hand corner to tie the match. Orlando tried to find a late winner in stoppage time, but the Dutch Lions were able to withstand the late pressure.
Orlando opening the scoring in the 24th minute, with Dennis Chin knocking in a loose ball in front of Dayton goalkeeper Matthew Williams to give the Lions a 1-0 advantage. After the ball was previously scooped up by Williams, Chin refused to give up on the play as he knocked home the finish after Williams fumbled the ball away.
The Dutch Lions responded just over 10 minutes later as Dayton midfielder Shintaro Harada equalized in the 35th minute. After a deep corner kick from the left was sent back into the penalty area, it came to an unmarked Harada level with the left post, and he shot low into the right corner past Sporting Kansas City loanee and Goalkeeper Jon Kempin for the goal.
Orlando regained the lead before the halftime break when a well played give-and-go between Renan Boufleur and loanee C.J. Sapong opened up a chance for the English midfielder for the Lions’ second. After receiving a pass in midfield, Boufleur made a run on the left side of the pitch, finding Sapong in the heart of the Dutch Lions’ defense. Sapong immediately fed it back to Boufleur behind the Dayton backline, with the defender converting for the 2-1 lead.
The Dutch Lions were reduced to 10 men just two minutes into the second half as Harada, who was shown a yellow card late in the first half, clipped down a breaking attacker to earn his second caution of the game. Despite being a man down, however, Dayton equalized off a penalty kick in the 60th minute after a handball in the penalty area by Orlando. Joel DeLass converted from the spot, only for the referee to call for a re-take after encroachment into the penalty area, but the midfielder kept his cool and shot home into the right corner of the net
The Lions answered with a penalty conversion of their own six minutes later with Sapong scoring his first goal for Orlando. Williams was called for a foul on Sapong pushing off Sapong as the forward attempted to take away possession. The 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year slotted the penalty kick it past Williams into the left coern, giving Orlando the 3-2 advantage.
Orlando had seemed set to claim all three points having regained the lead, but the Dutch Lions stepped up the pressure in the final 10 minutes. Second-half substitute Swartzendruber was the man on hand to volley home from the top of the penlaty area, giving his eighth-placed team a six-point cushio on the ninth-placed Wilmington Hammerheads.