Tatsumi Scores First Career Goal in GWU's Heartbreaking 2-1 Overtime Loss at No. 23 Dayton
September 15, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Dayton, Ohio - Gardner-Webb redshirt-junior Satoshi Tatsumi scored his first career goal in the second half, only to have No. 23 Dayton post a late second half goal in the final minutes of regulation and an early overtime goal to escape with a 2-1 win over the Runnin' Bulldogs on Friday night at Baujan Field in Dayton, Ohio.
The loss drops GWU to 0-5 on the year, while Dayton, who is now a perfect 4-0 at home, improve to 5-1 overall for the season.
In what was a very physical and testy match from the start, the Dayton Flyers offense attempted to put the home team up early, as the Flyers posted nine shots over the first 16 minutes of the contest.
The GWU defense stayed strong, as redshirt-senior goalkeeper Scott Krotee made three saves in Dayton's offensive onslaught, while the Runnin' Bulldog defense also blocked two other shots to keep the Flyers off the scoreboard and the match knotted up at 0-0.
GWU's offensive changes came shortly after, as senior John Sargent sailed a shot high of the goal in the 18th minute.
Minutes later, junior forward Chris Davis had his first shot attempt of the contest blocked in the 22nd minute, while freshman midfield Craig Swaby's follow up shot attempt was saved by Dayton goalkeeper Chris Froschauer to keep the match scoreless midway through the first half.
Each goalkeeper would make another save over the next six minutes of play, as Krotee would record his fifth save of the match in the 29th minute on a shot from Dayton's Evan McCreary.
The two teams would each see another shot go off target over the next 10 minutes of play, as the match remained scoreless as the first half ticked away.
GWU posted one last scoring effort before the end of the half, as in the 45th minute junior defender Marius Hammersmark played a corner kick into the box that found the head of fellow teammate and Norwegian Jon Ole Reinhardsen. Reinhardsen's header sailed high and over the goal, leaving the score at 0-0 heading into the halftime break.
Both teams came out of the break looking to get on the scoreboard first, as Dayton's Daniel Berko fired off a shot that sailed wide right in the 46th minute, which was immediately followed by a shot from GWU's Swaby which was blocked in the 48th minute.
Krotee would face another Dayton shot in the 53rd minute, which sailed offline, and would then record yet another save on a David Abidor shot attempt in the 55th minute to keep the match tied at 0-0 through 55 minutes of play.
After another shot sailed high by the Flyers, Gardner-Webb sophomore midfielder Kevin Comvalius put a shot on line in the 62nd minute, which again was blocked by the Flyers' defense, but got the rebound back and fired off a second shot that this time was saved by Froschauer in the net, again deterring the Runnin' Bulldogs from taking the lead.
Each team continued to fire off shots over the next 15 minutes of play, as Krotee hauled in three more saves to keep the Runnin' Bulldogs in the match with less than 12 minutes to go in regulation.
Gardner-Webb finally broke through in the 80th minute, as Tatsumi received a pass from Chijioke Akujuobi, and took a shot that sailed just inside the near post and found the back of the net to put the visitors on top 1-0. The goal was Tatsumi's first of his career, while the assist is Akujuobi's first of the season.
Dayton looked for the equalizer right away, as Eddie Jones' shot missed wide left in the 84th minute and Andres Acevedo's scoring attempt was blocked in the 88th minute to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of the Runnin' Bulldogs.
However, time would not run off fast enough for GWU, as Dayton would tie the score up in the 89th minute as Daniel Berko chased down a loose ball and put a shot past Krotee and into the back of the goal to tie the match up at 1-1 with 20 seconds to go in the contest.
As the final seconds ticked down, GWU's Tatsumi had a shot blocked and sophomore defender Matt Bogart saw his last attempt drift wide left to send the 1-1 match into overtime.
In the overtime period, Dayton opened up the extra period with a shot 18 seconds in which was stopped by Krotee. However, the rebounded ball fell back into the box where Abe Keller put the game winner into the back of the net from right in front of the goal to give the Flyers the 2-1 overtime win.
Dayton outshot the Runnin' Bulldogs 28-15 for the match and put 13 shots on goal compared to the Runnin' Bulldogs' five.
Krotee, who falls to 0-5 on the year, recorded a season-high 11 saves, while Froschauer earned the win with four saves on the night.
Gardner-Webb (0-5) will look to regroup, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will return to the pitch on Sunday afternoon to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at 1 p.m. in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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| Box Score: #23 Dayton 2, GWU 1 (OT) |
