Final Stats

CHICAGO - Goals in the first half by freshmen John Cappuccitti and Elliot Collier helped the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team record a 2-0 victory over the Dayton Flyers this evening at Loyola Soccer Park in the opening game of the 2014 season for both teams. Tim Dobrowolski posted a clean sheet in goal for the Ramblers.

"Dayton is a very good team," commented Loyola head men's soccer coach Neil Jones. "You don't win 14 games if you aren't and they did that last year. They beat us handily last year so we wanted to show better than we did and I think we did that. All in all, we displayed good team defense for the most part but there is still some stuff that we need to work on. I think we took our opportunities and finished them well."

The game took on a physical tone from the onset with each team being whistled for a pair of fouls inside the first six minutes. Playing in front of a boisterous crowd, the Ramblers went on the attack in the game's early stages as freshman Brody Kraussel's headed attempt floated just over the bar at the near post in the seventh minute. It wouldn't take long for the Maroon & Gold to find their breakthrough though as Cappuccitti fired a shot from 12 yards out in the center of the 18-yard box past Chris Froschauer, the Dayton goalkeeper, to give the Ramblers a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute. Sophomore Kirill Likhovid and senior Brian Bement were each credited with an assist on the goal.

Dayton looked to equalize quickly when Brian Richards forced an outstretched Dobrowolski to push his header wide at the near post in the 16th minute. Richards found himself back in the mix yet again in the 18th minute when he unleashed a shot that soared high of goal.

Collier, out of Hamilton, New Zealand, doubled the home side's advantage in the 23rd minute when he saw a loose ball in the box fall to his feet. The freshman calmly sent it past Froschauer with his left foot and tucked it inside the far post to get the home crowd on their feet yet again. Similar to when Cappuccitti found the back of the net, Dayton immediately looked to draw a goal back after Collier's strike when James Haupt found himself on the end of a through ball, only to push his shot wide of the post to ensure that Loyola took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Bement, Loyola's leading goal scorer from 2013, made a bid to make it 3-0 in the 47th minute when he ripped a shot from 23 yards out that sailed high at the near post. Dayton answered back with an attack of its own in the 51st minute when Brian Bates played a ball through to Maik Schoonderwoerd, only for an onrushing Dobrowolski to win the race to the ball and secure it. Greg Enstone looked to have pulled a goal back for the Flyers ten minutes later when he broke free for an uncontested look at Dobrowolski. The junior out of Rockford, Ill. was able to deflect the shot just enough for it to roll wide of goal.

With Dayton starting to ramp up pressure, the Rambler backline stood tall in support of its goalkeeper, while the Rambler offense took advantage and attacked. Cappuccitti turned in Loyola's best scoring opportunity of the second half in the 78th minute when, following a Ryan Howe corner kick, the freshman unleashed a blast from the top of the box that forced Froschauer to deflect the ball on to the crossbar and out of play. The Mount Prospect, Ill. product's shot proved to be the final major threat for either team as the Ramblers closed out a 2-0 victory.

Loyola outshot Dayton, 5-3, in each half to hold a 10-6 advantage in the category. Dobrowolski was brilliant in support of his team, making three saves as he recorded the seventh shutout of his career. The loss is Dayton's first non-conference defeat since the 2012 season.

With a solid performance in the home opener to build off of, Loyola can now turn its attention to a showdown with Western Michigan on Friday in a game that will be part of the inaugural DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton North Shore Chicago Classic. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. from Loyola Soccer Park.