AMBASSADORS CLEVELAND WIN SECOND STRAIGHT CONFERENCE TITLE AFTER TOUGH FIRST HALF BATTLE AGAINST FC DAYTON

Written By:  Thomas Costello
Central Region Contributor

Photo By:  Ken Klemencic

After a competitive season in the Ohio Valley Conference, an established power and expansion side met at Hudson Memorial Stadium, outside Cleveland, Ohio. Ambassadors Cleveland, looking to repeat from its 2021 conference title, welcomed FC Dayton, a team that surprised established clubs and former champions in 2022. While the final score line favored the Ambassadors, Saturday’s match was full of exciting moments on both sides of the field in a 6-0 Cleveland victory.

The highlight-reel moments began two minutes into the match. Running down the left wing, Cleveland’s Jordan Fusco sent a curling effort towards the left corner of the goal that Dayton goalkeeper Jessika Seward met with a diving save. It was a save that foreshadowed much of the first half, with Seward keeping the visitors in the match.

While Cleveland held a lot of the early possession, FC Dayton found opportunities on the counter – its first ended with a scary moment in front of Cleveland’s penalty area. University of Dayton forward Laney Huber, who led FC Dayton with eight goals in the regular season, had a one-on-one with Ambassadors keeper Liviya Fain. The two players collided outside of the penalty area with Cleveland stopping a goal-scoring opportunity. Fortunately, both came away from the challenge okay and continued to compete.

From there, it was Seward’s time to step up again. Dayton’s Lauren Bastian and Cleveland’s Gabrielle Lopresti each went for a loose ball at midfield, but Lopresti had the edge to push the ball forward in the attack before finding Fusco for another towards the left post – this time opting to keep the ball on the field. Seward met the Ambassadors’ attack with another diving save to knock the ball away – it was her second of nine saves on the day.

“Jess was solid,” Bradley Schluter, FC Dayton head coach, said. “First half, she made three big saves before we had any opportunities. Jess was great for us, I don’t think today’s score line was representative of her, it wasn’t representative of the team.”

Following the first 10 minutes where Ambassadors had most of the chances, Dayton shifted possession and controlled the middle 20 minutes of the first half. In the 13’ minute, Dayton won a corner kick and midfielder Ava Hall found the ball at her feet at the top of the penalty area. Hall sent a shot on frame but it hit off the post, keeping the match level.

Dayton added another breakaway chance and a shot from distance, but Fain stopped both opportunities, and Seward responded to Fain’s great goalkeeping with more of her own. Halfway through the first half, Cleveland withstood the pressure and found another chance of its own.

Forward Alex Wright, playing wide, passed into the penalty area, setting up fellow forward, and substitute, Anna Rico in front of goal. With only a few feet separating Rico from Seward, Rico fired on target and Seward parried the shot away – the most impressive save of the matchup.

After 30 minutes of deadlock and superb plays in net, Cleveland broke the tie. Cleveland’s Wright charged the right side of the penalty area, with Seward approaching. Wright reached the ball first and shot into an open net, past Seward, but Dayton responded.

It was Huber who almost leveled the match at 1-1 on another Dayton break where she made a move to get past Fain in the penalty area and avoided being fouled in the process. Unfortunately for Huber and FC Dayton, the open net came at a tough angle as Huber ran towards the end line. Huber’s shot hit side net and Cleveland made Dayton pay less than a minute later.

On a set piece outside of Cleveland’s offensive penalty area, fullback Kati Druzina sent in a cross that attacking midfielder Sam Wiehe volleyed past Seward for a 2-0 lead that lasted until the end of the first half.

Returning from the locker room with adjustments was FC Dayton. The visitors moved to a three-center back set in the back for the beginning of the second half, pushing another player into the attack in hopes of cutting the deficit in half. With extra players attacking, Dayton was more susceptible on defense but Seward saved four shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half, including a potential own goal.

From there, Cleveland’s pressure increased and so did its lead. Two Dayton clearances created two of Cleveland’s four second-half goals. With its four-goal cushion, the Ambassadors added two more for the final 6-0 score, securing Cleveland the Ohio Valley Conference title.

What made the victory more impressive than the six goals is the distribution on the goals, five Cleveland players scored the six, with substitute Anna Rico adding a brace in the final 45 minutes. The win was indicative of Cleveland’s approach of focusing internally.

“All season we’ve concentrated on what we have to do in the game, not anything else,” Caleb Fortune, Cleveland Ambassadors head coach, said. “Not necessarily what we’re lacking or what the other team is doing. If you commit to it, and are strong at doing what you do, usually you’ll have a good chance.”

Sticking with that aggressive style of play led to a second-straight conference championship for Cleveland’s WPSL team. After the match, Fortune was upfront about FC Dayton.

“The score line was unlucky for Dayton but I thought they played really well,” Fortune said. “In the first half, they hit the post and created a lot of good chances but it was unfortunate for them.”

Dayton’s Schluter echoed the same sentiments, adding that he hopes both sides can play again next year when each team has its full roster available. With college soccer approaching, July becomes the time when players start transitioning back to university play. Either way, the tone from Schluter to his Dayton players was positive and reflective after a season where they exceeded expectations of an expansion side.

“I think to be here in our first year is kind of crazy in itself. I’m proud of the girls,” Schluter said. “Year one, we kind of took everyone by surprise. The group was always changing but we fought together as a team, we won a lot of tough games and hopefully, there are experiences that you grew from and had fun memories playing with your friends or new friends.”