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!