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!