ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Visiting Dayton seized Saturday's Atlantic 10 women's soccer opener from the outset and never looked back on the way to a 5-0 victory over St. Bonaventure at the Marra Athletics Complex.
Defending A10 champion Dayton (4-5, 1-0 A10) struck early by taking control of the momentum from the opening kick.
The Flyers grabbed an early lead in the fifth minute when Emery Newlin sent a ball right in front. While her pass was not collected by her intended target, it bounced off a Bonaventure defender and into the net for an own goal.
Dayton nearly added to its lead in the 31st minute when Lauryn Contini fired from the top of the 18-yard box, but her shot was punched over the bar by Bonnies keeper Callie Turpin.
In the second half, the Flyers picked up the insurance goal they were searching for just over four minutes in. Laney Smith beat a Bona defender one-on-one, depositing her shot in the upper left corner of the net.
Reese Gallagher added another tally to put the contest on ice in the 62nd minute.
Moran Moscovici had Bona's best chance in the 72nd minute as she delivered a rocket on net from 25 yards out, forcing Dayton goalie Kasey Cannistraro to come through with a leaping save.
The Flyers added tallies in the 82nd and 87th minutes.
Despite the score, Turpin still made a career-high 12 saves in net.
St. Bonaventure moves to 3-4-1, 0-1 A10 on the season following Saturday's result.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH RAY LEONE
"Callie has had a couple of extraordinary performances in a row and it's hard to give up five and your goalkeeper still played awesome, that's a credit to Dayton. I'm happy that we didn't quit. Dayton was the better team, but we just move on to the next game. We'll learn so much from this game because we were playing the best team in the conference. To play them first, I couldn't ask for much more."
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure will head on the road for the first time in Atlantic 10 play by traveling to VCU on Thursday at 1 p.m. for the first of two back-to-back contests in the city of Richmond. The Bonnies will then play at Richmond Sunday, Sept. 27.
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