October 30, 2006

BOO AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN! It's been a couple of weeks since I last reported on the team and the season but don't despair, things have been going well. It's just been really busy for all of us involved in URI soccer between games, training and hosting possible future Rams visiting campus the past couple of weekends. So, let's bring you all up to speed...

Over the time since I last wrote, we have been head first into the end of the Atlantic 10 season and preparations for the A-10 Tournament. We've had a terrific run at home since our split weekend at Xavier/Dayton and its' put us in a great position to make another run at the Atlantic 10 Tournament title.

Over the weekend of October 13-15, Temple and Saint Joseph's came to town, and in both games it proved why you can't look past any opponent in the league. On Friday we sandwiched an early own goal with a Dawid Badecki (Jelenia Gora, Poland) finish in the 72nd minute to beat the Owls. It was a really nifty goal as Lukasz Tumicz (Bisztynek, Poland) lifted a pass over Temple's defense that Badecki took down and calmly deposited in the goal.

On Sunday, St. Joe's scored first but our guys responded with 6 unanswered goals to down the Hawks, 6-1. This was a great team effort as 9 different players contributed to the scoring with Jeff Gonsalves (Markham, Ontario) leading the way with two goals and an assist.

Midweek, we had the second of our Rhode Island Darby's with Brown University coming to campus for a re-match of the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, which the Bears won, 2-1. It was an old-fashioned shoot-out and all out entertaining game which ended in a 3-3 draw. We started the game well and got a goal from Lukasz Tumicz only to see Brown equalize. After Danleigh Borman (Cape Town, South Africa) put the Rams ahead again, the Ivy Leaguers tallied twice in a two-minute span which threw us for a loop. But old reliable Jeff Gonsalves came through to tie the game and that is how it ended. Exciting and well worth the price of admission.

It was also a special night as Danleigh tallied his first goal of the season in front of his mother who had surprised "her baby" a few days earlier. Only the coaching staff knew she was making the 18 hour flight from Cape Town and you should have seen his face and heard him say "Mummy?!" when she came out from behind Keaney during our warm down after training... It was priceless! The hug will last a lifetime...

The University of Massachusetts came to town the next weekend and it took overtime (our seventh OT of the season) to beat the Minutemen. The first half was not a good one for us as we started slow and seemed to be a little out of sorts with Adam Howarth (Isle of Wight, England) missing due to an ankle injury he sustained against Brown.

UMass scored first on a counter attack but we were able to get in the locker room at half-time tied when Dawid Badecki scored on a free kick in the 32nd minute. A missed penalty kick in the second half enabled Massachusetts to stay in the game but Lukasz Tumicz continued his hot scoring streak finishing a Jeff Gonsalves pass just 5 minutes into the extra stanza.

Now things come full circle as we were set up for a furious finish and a chance to win the Atlantic 10 regular season title but in the way were Duquesne and league-leading St. Louis University.

The Duquesne match turned into something we did not expect, that of a 4-0 shut out and a bizarre side show. In the middle of the second half the match was interrupted by a pitbull that ran onto the field through the gate by the practice football field and proceeded to attack another dog by the stands.

Now I've seen some weird things happen during a game but this tops them all! Especially since it was Kevin Hamill's family's dog that was attacked! We are glad to report that KH's dog (a fluffy little thing that managed to bite a chunk out of the pitbull) is ok. The pitbull made its way back onto the field and most of the guys scampered around trying to stay out of its way until Dawid Badecki bravely escorted it off the field by its collar... only to see it make a mad dash across the field a couple of minutes later.

Anyway, it was one of those games were things just seemed to be clicking for our guys and after two first-half goals by Geoff Cameron (Attleboro, MA), and one sandwiched in between from Jeff Gonsalves, we seemed to put the game out of reach.

Kevin Hamill (Easton, CT) scored his first collegiate goal (a BLAST into the side netting from 25 yards... on an angle by the way!) to seal the deal leaving the boys a chance to win the regular season A-10 title with a win over SLU on Sunday.

GO RAMS!