The University of Dayton opened league play with a 49-0 victory over the University of Kentucky. UD took control right from the opening kickoff. Kentucky played tough defense and repelled several attacks inside their own 22 before UD finally put over a try. A solid scrum set the platform for a try by flyhalf Dave Koehneman. Quinn Macali assisted the try. The outside center, Steve Pangle scored the next try in the corner to make it 12-0. Minutes later, Bob Schuster scored after a nice dummy to make it 17-0. Senior 8-man Dave Whitney finished the half with two tries of his own off lineouts to make it 29-0 at halftime.
The second half saw momentum change hands. Kentucky had the ball inside UD's 22 for the first nearly the first 10 minutes of the half. UD conceded a staggering amount of penalties, but strong goalline tackling prevented Kentucky from scoring a try. After finally clearing the ball, UD began to assert themselves again. Senior wing Jim Paszczykowski scored four tries in the final 25 minutes. He scored once off a nice counter attack and twice from close range. His best try, though, came from a chip and chase by Quinn Macali. Macali gathered his own kick at full speed before popping back inside to the onrushing Paszczykowski, who dove over and touched down.
The 49-0 victory signifies a strong start to the season, but the UD players know they missed several opportunities. Despite some offensive lapses, the team was excited to preserve a shutout. The team has one more tune up game vs. the alumni before they take on OU and Miami in successive weeks.
The B-side kept alive its goal of an undefeated season as well with a 14-12 victory. The win was especially impressive because Kentucky had to fill their B side with several A side players. Justin Schaffer scored a long try to make it 5-0. Freshman Ben Yost made the conversion to make it 7-0. Brad Kernan scored from close range to make it 14-0. Kentucky rebounded with two tries of their own in the second half to make 14-12. UD then took control again, but failed to score on several chances leaving the final as 14-12.
A side lineup:
1: Bryan Law 2: Dave Klug, 3: Adam Hornbacher 4: Dave Coppiellie 5: Luke McAuliffe, 6: Ricky Crew, 7: Danny Patek, 8: David Whitney, 9: Spencer Marsinek, 10: Dave Koehneman, 11: Jim Paszczykowski, 12: Kevin Corcoran, 13: Steve Pangle, 14: Bob Schuster, 15: Quinn Macali.