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TORDA STRIKES TWICE IN 3-3 DOUBLE OVERTIME THRILLER
Sept. 7, 2008
MADISON, Wisc. - Alex Torda provided all the offensive firepower Dayton was missing in its first game of Wisconsin's Middleton Sports & Fitness Invitational. After being blanked in the first game of the tournament, the Flyers came away with a 3-3 double overtime tie Sunday against the host Badgers. UD's Torda, who was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List this season, came alive for the Flyers putting away two spectacular goals. He was named to the all-tournament team along with junior Zach Weiss. He got Dayton on the board first in the 8th minute, drilling a shot past the keeper from the 18 on a transition play. The Badgers answered about six minutes later (13:32) on a Scott Lorenz free kick to knot the game at 1-1. Then it was Torda time again. Senior Florian DeCamps fed the ball to Torda at the 18 and he took care of the rest, blasting it upper 90 to give UD a 2-1 lead in the 30th minute. "Alex's first goal was a nice score in transition," said UD head coach Dennis Currier. "His second was a world-class goal. He got a nice pass from Florian, turned at the 18 and hit upper 90. It's one of the best goals I've seen in a while. We were waiting for Torda to break out and I felt he did today." UD's lead was short-lived, however, as the Badgers found the back of the net again and tied it before half. Brandon Miller scored at the 31:04 mark of the match. "We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth battle," said Currier. "Wisconsin has a very good team. They had a good crowd and we had adverse conditions." After the break, it was the Badgers who struck first. Pablo Delgado gave Wisconsin its first lead of the match at 48:50. The Flyers caught a break in the 55th minute as Wisconsin allowed an own goal to tie the match. UD battled for 35 more minutes of regulation time and two 10-minute overtime periods to hand the Badgers (3-0-1) their first non-win of the season. Wisconsin had 24 shots to Dayton's nine, but seven of UD's were on goal, while the Badgers had eight shots on frame. The Badgers won the tournament with a 1-0-1 record. In the other Sunday game, No. 20 Santa Clara defeated Milwaukee 2-1. The Flyers fell to the Panthers on the first day of the tournament, 1-0. Santa Clara lost to the host Badgers, 1-0 in overtime. Every game of the tournament was decided by one goal or less. "We played better today and had great connecting passes. Offensively we found the spark we needed to get on the board," said Currier. "They have a high-powered offense and it was a battle all the way to the end. "Everybody in the program knew we had to perform well," he added. "It was important to get back to how we play. The effort was one of our better ones this season, and our best on the road. We have to take this into next week when we play two very good teams." Dayton (2-1-1) plays in the UNCW Courtyard by Marriott Classic this Friday and Sunday. The Flyers play UNC-Wilmington Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Coastal Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m. ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM |
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