September 24, 2007

As you can imagine, it hasn't been a happy weekend here in Kingston as the squad suffered another frustrating defeat, Friday night to Boston University. It looked to be a great day, beginning with tremendous weather, a heartfelt letter of support from URI alum and 2006 All-American Jeff Gonsalves in pre-game and a great crowd which included youth players from all over the state for Soccer Rhode Island Night. It all looked to be going our way...

I think we all felt that we were prepared after a great week of training and some tweaking with the line-up to accommodate missing Lukasz Tumicz (Bistzynek, Poland) who is struggling with a nagging injury. We chose to keep him out in order to have him ready for Atlantic 10 play down the road.

We started off the game really well and we seemed to be firing on all cylinders. We were able to create a few chances and limited BU to some routine defensive clean-ups. But like many of our games so far this season, a little lapse in concentration and all of the sudden the Terriers are on the board. It was a shock to us and the crowd of over 1,100. We rebounded well and almost equalized when Geoff Cameron (N. Attleboro, MA) got through on the goal and just shot wide.

Both teams settled down and the play seemed to even out. It looked as though we would get into the half without further damage. But, a controversial foul just outside the box was converted into another goal and we now had a real up-hill climb.

The second half started as the first but we were able to maintain pressure and threaten the BU goal. It looked as though we would make the last 15 minutes exciting when Callum Bissett (Pencaitland, Scotland) headed a cross in but was whistled offside. The game ended in a 2-0 loss for us and our frustration continued...

It's a funny thing because I feel so strongly that we are on the verge of bursting out - but just need a little luck. I know the boys are putting their hearts, legs and souls into the games and do not deserve these results. As their coach, I have to take responsibility for the results as I am the one who is training and preparing the team for these contests. I can assure you they are putting in the effort so I need to make sure they have a way to create chances and keep the ball out of our net.

Up next is a game at the University of Hartford on Friday at 6:00 p.m., followed by a match at home against the Black Bears of the University of Maine on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. That day we will we welcome back to campus former assistant coach Pat Laughlin, who took over in Orono last winter.

Well, we had some exciting news this past week when we found out that our match on October 14th versus the University of Dayton will be broadcast, live, on Cox Sports Rhode Island. Play-by-play will be done by our fantastic PA announcer and alum Mike Mancuso with former-Ram (and son of my predecessor, Eddie Bradley) Michael Bradley, doing the color commentary. It will be a great way to cap off Homecoming Weekend!

Speaking of Homecoming, a second reminder about what we have planned for HOMECOMING 2007. The schedule is as follows:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12th
6:00 p.m. Match vs. Xavier University
8:00 p.m. Rhody Rally in Keaney Gym
9:45 p.m. Fireworks behind Keaney Gym

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13th
10:00 a.m. - Alumni vs. Alumni Game (odd years versus even)
Noon - Alumni, Parents & Friends BBQ (located in "Rhodyville" in front of Keaney)
1:00 p.m. - Homecoming Football game vs. James Madison

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14th
1:00 p.m. - Match vs. University of Dayton

As you can see, it's going to be a tremendous weekend. The cost of the weekend will be $25 per person which will include a limited-edition URI Soccer Homecoming t-shirt, BBQ and ticket to the football game.

So, let us know if you are going to be coming so we can get a count for the BBQ and have a t-shirt for you (send us your size). If you can't be there and you want to help underwrite the weekend feel free to help at whatever level you feel is appropriate.

Well, that's it for now. We appreciate your continued support and hope to see you soon.

All the best...GO RAMS!

Coach O'C

September 19, 2007

It's been a long week so far.

"No one said it was going to be easy...if it was, then everyone would be doing it." I heard that somewhere, and it has never rang more true then after this five-game stretch to start our season.

Sunday's 1-0 loss to Brown was a particularly painful one for us all because we felt it was a game that was there for the taking. Add that to the fact it was a match against nationally-ranked in-state rival the Brown Bears and you can only imagine what it meant to the team.

It was a great game to watch as witnessed by the crowd of nearly 1,500. There was a tremendous group of alums seated right behind our bench, including recent alums Jim Goetter, Joe Spofford, our Academic Advisor Nicole Poloski, former trainer Michelle Levreault and her family, local alumni stalwarts Kevin Kennedy, DJ Burns, Matt Moriarty as well as our family support from the Preysses, Donigans, Balickis, Camerons, Petrarcas, Ruizes and Mellens to name a few. It was nice to have the support in what can be a hostile environment - considering the history between these two teams.

The game itself was a battle of styles... the Bears looking to capitalize on their very effective "flip throw-in" specialist, corners and free kicks and our boys mixing up direct play and a quick build up to get into the Bruno penalty box. The ball selection the final third, whether it was a shot or cross, became our Achilles heel as we just couldn't get what we wanted to threaten the Brown goal. I was proud of the boys for the way they fought all the way to the end - where we got a final chance on a free kick just outside the box. But, the effort sailed over the bar and with it the game. Brown is on a role and we're just hoping that, down the road, we get a chance to meet them again.

Although we sit in a hole - which some teams would not be able to climb out of - I'm confident that our guys have the constitution to battle back. They have that kind of character and resolve. We really aren't that far away and the learning curve that has come through these rough times will serve us well down the road. I guarantee it!

Our next match will be against another good team in the form of the Boston University Terriers. Last season we dropped a disappointing 1-0 loss in Boston, so the guys are looking forward to the re-match. Should be a great crowd as it is SOCCER RHODE ISLAND NIGHT where we will honor the youth players in the state, including a ceremony recognizing the RI state club champions who represented the Ocean State at the 2007 USYSA regional championships in Brunswick, ME this past summer.

Well, we're less than a month away from HOMECOMING 2007 and we hope you are making plans to join us. It will be a great weekend of soccer with our game Friday October 12th at 6:00 pm versus Xavier followed by the "Rhody Rally" afterwards to kick off the weekend. On Saturday it's the Alumni vs. Alumni game at 10:00 am followed by a BBQ hosted by URI men's and women's soccer, followed by the Homecoming Football game at 1:00 pm. On Sunday you get a chance to see another great Atlantic-10 match-up versus Dayton 1:00 pm. It should be a very exciting day as the game will be broadcast locally on COX Television.

Drop me a line at joconnor@mail.uri.edu to let me know you will be coming so we can plan for food and such. Hope you will be able to join us...GO RAMS!

September 10, 2007

MIKE BERTICELLI MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT - South Bend, IN

Friday, Sept. 7
No. 8 Notre Dame 3,
Rhode Island 0

Sunday, Sept. 9
No. 4 Indiana 3,
Rhode Island 1

All-Tournament Team: Adam Howarth & Callum Bissett

Well... it wasn't the weekend we were hoping for, but it also wasn't a weekend which didn't teach us something about ourselves and where we need to be at the end of the season. Both our hosts (the University of Notre Dame) and Indiana University were quality opponents with players who have won and competed for national championships at all levels. My hat goes off to them for playing the game the way its supposed to be played and exposing weaknesses in our game - which we can fix now. As a team, we certainly respected the Irish and Hoosiers but know that with some work and luck we had the ability to win.

When I accepted the invitation to the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament from my former Dartmouth boss (and current Notre Dame head coach) Bobby Clark I knew it wouldn't be easy task to go into South Bend and play these two squads. We were hoping to get some positive game results from the weekend and unfortunately we didn't. In both matches our mistakes were converted into goals and out boys were unable to capitalize upon the minimal mistakes that our opponents made. It's important that we recognize that, because down the road - in any match - we may only get a few chances. And if that is the case, we need to use them to our advantage.

In the end, the best thing that came out of our time in Indiana was that our players know what it will take to be at the top of our game. I'm confident that the lessons learned from the weekend will take us far... or at least until the next game versus Brown on Sunday.

Before I sign off a special thanks goes out to John and Valerie Tanke (parents of freshmen Michael Tanke) who treated us to a great meal while we were in South Bend. Michael grew up in Niles, MI which is only a stones throw from the ND campus. We also were lucky to have a contingent of parents and supporters including the Preyss family, Greg Balicki's dad and brother, the Mellens, freshmen GK Peyton Warwick's dad, the Petrarcas, former Ram GK Dean Ruddy's brother and parents Luanne & Jim, alum Dan McCrudden and his son Kyle as well as what seemed to be the whole town of Niles... When Michael Tanke came on in the first half of the Notre Dame game he received a huge round of applause... it was the most popular substitute I have ever made in my coaching career! Add all that to some of my former UChicago players and Assistants and we had a nice supporters section right in the middle of Irish land.

Well, the Brown Bears are the next up and they are on a tear with wins in their own tournament over Fordham and Santa Clara. Hope to see many of you there - and please note that the game date and time has been changed to Sunday, Sept. 16 at 1:00 pm at Brown.

GO RAMS!

September 6, 2007

Dear Alums & Friends,

Sorry for not posting until now but things have been a little hectic with the beginning of the season and our preparation to go to South Bend tomorrow morning. We've have a good start to the season after a wonderfully productive pre-season. The guys came back in great shape and the squad is really starting to come together.

As I've said previously, pre-season training really was great. The squad of 25 worked hard and had a lot of fun along the way. Besides training, the guys had some good "down time" together - living in the new Eddy Residence Hall and dining in the renovated Hope Commons. If you haven't seen either, you've got to get to campus and experience them... they are fantastic!

We also spent some time off the field doing fun team-building exercises, highlighted by our visit to the URI Boat House! We took a morning to head down to the river where URI women's rowing head coach Shelagh Donahue (A-10 Coach of the Year) and assistants Jessica Lizzi and Bridgid Meyers showed the guys the techniques of rowing, preparation of the boats for races (i.e carrying them down to the river every day) as well as the importance of being very careful with these $30,000 dollar crafts.

The best part was that they taught them how to work together as a team to get the boats moving. If one person isn't on the same page then you mind as well pull out a fishing pole as you're not going anywhere. I don't think we are in jeopardy of losing anyone to the sport but it was a lot of fun and well worth the work. Thanks so much to Shelagh, Jess and Bridgid for their patience and humor... especially Bridgid!

The exhibition games against UNH (0-0 tie) and Holy Cross (2-3 loss) were a great test for the squad. They gave the veterans a chance to be back on the field and the newcomers a taste of what its like to be a part of URI men's soccer. The results weren't as important as the process, which gave us a lot to look at and tinker with in preparation for the season.

Well, as most of you know, the season has now begun and we stand 1-1-0 going into this weekend's trip to South Bend, IN. The season-opener against Harvard was a heartbreaker as we took on the 15th-ranked team in the country. We had a bit of a sluggish start and conceded an early goal but got it back on a Lukasz Tumicz tally after a throw-in and flick on from Geoff Cameron.

We then had another let down, characteristic of some early season errors, but I was proud that we came right back at the Crimson to get another equalizer. Unfortunately, Harvard answered one more time - on a good goal - and we couldn't break them again even though we got two cleared off the line. It was a disappointment but something we were able to build on going into the next match versus in-state rival Providence.

For the PC game, it was an exciting night not just because of the rivalry between the two Ocean State schools but because of the atmosphere. We had a crowd of over 2,500, which included the usual suspects of alumni, parents and friends - but add to that the freshmenm, who had just arrived on campus, and South County Youth Soccer Night and the place was buzzing!

As you can imagine, it was a tightly contested game but the boys took all of the electricity in the air well and played their game. After some initial PC pressure and a couple of corner kicks, we settled down and created a few of our own chances. Just before the half we got a good defensive effort to win the ball back in the PC defensive third, where redshirt freshmen Andres Ruiz (Providence, RI/LaSalle Academy) slipped a little pass to Steve Mellen (North Kingstown, RI/Bishop Hendricken) who juked a Friar and blasted a 25-yard left footed rocket into the bottom left hand corner. It was pandemonium!

In the beginning of the second 45, we picked up where we left off and Ruiz was in the middle of it again. Andres got a great strike off a layoff at the top of the box and drilled a shot - which the PC keeper made a great save on - only to have the rebound find it's way to the left where Danleigh Borman (Cape Town, South Africa) crossed it back to the other side of the box. Lukasz Tumicz (Biszneytek, Poland) was waiting there and volleyed the ball into the ground and over the PC keeper to make it 2-0.

We were on our way but needed to make it exciting in the end. For the second year in a row, we had a player sent off with about 20 minutes to go (no names mentioned, but it was the same player as last year's PC game) and had to play a man down for the remaining time. I was very proud of the way we handled it as it was very different then the end of the game at PC in 2006. The experience of our team showed through and we held on and remained in control to capture the shutout which goalkeeper Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) so richly deserved for his outstanding performance!

So, we head to South Bend tomorrow to play #9 Notre Dame and #4 Indiana. It will be a big test as they both just beat the previous week's #1 ranked team UCLA at IU's tournament last weekend.

It will also be a homecoming-of-sorts for me (as well as freshmen Michael Tanke who is from Niles, MI - a stone's through from ND). Every summer, I work at the Notre Dame camp where my former boss (from Dartmouth College) and friend Bobby Clark is head coach. I know a lot of the Irish players so it will be a great match to be a part of...

Well, that's it for this edition. Don't forget about Homecoming Weekend October 12-14. Keep an eye on the website for a chance to sign up for the alumni vs alumni game on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. as well as the BBQ to follow. We hope you will be thinking of us this weekend and will join us in October. All the best and GO RAMS!