Jeff Wendt

The Republic | azcentral.com

Soccer can be a cruel game of inches.

An apparent late goal in the 90th minute by Arizona United SC midfielder Bradlee Baladez was waived off on what appeared to be an offside call from the side official, and the Dayton Dutch Lions defeated Arizona United 2-1 Wednesday at the Peoria Sports Complex.

For Arizona United (3-6-2), it was their fourth loss loss in the last five league games, and third consecutive loss in the league at home.

"We lost the game, we didn't deserve to win," Arizona United coach Michael Dellorusso said. "We did the one thing we didn't want to do. We gave them confidence. We knew they were a tired team and we came out flat."

Dayton opening the scoring in the fifth minute, when a defensive breakdown allowed forward Adam Schoenfeld to take a shot, which hit off the post and came back to him, and he put it away for a 1-0 lead.

Arizona United came back in the 17th minute when Bradlee Baladez threw in a ball from out of bounds that landed at the feet of forward Rodney Wallace, who blasted it past goalkeeper Matt Williams to tie the game at 1-1.

"Just saw an opening, honestly," Wallace said. "I made the run, but the defender got in front of me, it look like I had fouled him, but I made good run and it was a good look by Bradlee and I was able to finish for the goal."

"He's at a different level, you guys see it," Dellorusso said of Wallace, who will be returning to the Portland Timbers of MLS after his two game loan with Arizona United. "I appreciate him coming here, and he'll be starting for Peortland soon."

Arizona United had a great chance in the 34th minute, when forward Schillo Tshuma crossed a ball into the box to forward Jonathan Top, whose header found the crossbar.

Dayton (3-8-2) increased its lead to 2-1 in the 36th minute when Schoenfeld blasted a ball from outside the box past an outstretched Evan Newton.

In the second half, Arizona United had multiple chances on crosses with balls falling inside the 6-yard box, but players were unable to get to the ball and Dayton was able to clear.

"We've been creating chances for the last three weeks, just haven't been able to score goals," Dellorusso said. "We got to score and we've got to tighten up our defense."

Arizona United will be losing six players back to MLS clubs as they prepare for U.S. Open Cup play, and Dellorusso said players will have to step up if they want the playing time.

"Everybodyhas to step up," Dellorusso said. "We have a lot of young guys. They have to learn what the professional world is all about, and it will be a learning step for them.

"But I have a lot of trust and confidence in these guys, for sure. I don't lose any of it, and I look forward to getting back out there on Saturday, now we just got to get their legs back and regenerate them."