IT WAS A GREAT RUN... too bad it had to end. As elated as we were with our PK shootout win over Rutgers last Saturday evening, we felt an equal level of sadness in our shootout loss last night to Lehigh University. As I sit here on the bus on the way back from Pennsylvania, I still feel deeply for the players as I know they put everything they had into a game played with 22 players on a 120 yard x 75 yard surface. In the end, the game was decided between two players from a spot just 12 yards from the goal.
You have to know that it was a great atmosphere at Lehigh and a well-hosted event. The weather was warm, the field in good condition, it's the second round of the NCAA tournament and the crowd was a record-setter for the Ulrich Sports Complex. We couldn't have asked for more...
The game began with a good amount of pressure (as expected) by the home team, which had not played in two weeks. Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England), who has gotten better and better as the season has progressed, made a point blank save to preserve the 0-0 score early in.
We weathered the storm and on our first real open chance, Lukasz Tumicz (Biszytnek, Poland) scored his seventh goal of the season off a Jeff Gonsalves (Markham, Ontario) assist. We felt as though were on our way but Lehigh was not about to lay down, as their 15-1-2 regular-season record and #16 seed would attest.
The game was one of ebbs and flows as each team got their chances to change the score line. Our best chance came when Danleigh Borman (Cape Town, South Africa) put Tumicz through for semi-break-a-way but the Mountain Hawk GK made a nice stop. It looked as though the game would end with another Rhody win but unfortunately Lehigh equalized off a counter with just 6 minutes to go in regulation.
In overtime, each team had at least one quality chance but the match would end, as regulation did, knotted at one apiece. It would now be up to the shootout and it just was not our day as Lehigh prevailed, 5-4, in sudden death.
It was a tough and abrupt ending to a season we had hoped would extend for at least another week. It was hard for me to watch the players, many with tears in their eyes, agonize over this result. But now, as I did last night, I feel nothing but pride for being a part of this season and such a great program.
As I told the players after the game, that I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world to have had the fortune to come to Rhode Island, have this great group of men handed to me on a silver platter and do what we did together. I have to thank Tom McElroy and Eddie Bradley for that...
Most of all, I'm honored to have been with this senior class in their final year. They are a wonderful group of people and each contributed to the successes of the season in their own unique ways. My hat goes off to Jim Goetter, Jeff Gonsalves, B.J. Kochis, Mark Sauter and Joe Spofford for the legacy they leave for future URI men's soccer players.
In the next week, as the fog of disappointment lifts, we will be able to look back and realize what a great season 2006 was for all involved. On behalf of the team and our staff I want to thank our parents, friends and alums who have been such great supporters over the fall. URI soccer is here to stay and we will make sure you are a part of it.
GO RAMS!
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