We just finished what seemed to be the longest weekend of the season with our trip to Charlotte and Saint Louis. Of the A-10 travel, this trip was the most difficult not only because of the quality of the opponents but also because of the distance traveled. I know the guys look forward to these trips, but it takes a little out of the old coach.
Friday night's game versus Charlotte stacked up to be a very good one. The 49ers began the weekend 0-2-0 in the conference and were desperate for a win to keep their A-10 tournament hopes alive. We too were looking for 3 points after back-to-back wins at home the previous weekend versus Xavier & Dayton.
The match began with as good a first half as we have played all year. We were without the services of Geoffrey Cameron (Attleboro, MA), due to a red card suspension, as well as grad student Kevin Algozer (Northport, NY), who was unable to travel for the Friday game because of a lab he could not miss. But, we did have Callum Bissett (Pencaitland, Scotland) back from injury so we were almost at full strength.
Anyway, the ball was flying off the guys' feet and they played inspired soccer. It was beautiful to watch and a great example of what we are capable of doing. The effort and concentration paid off towards the end of the first half when Kevin Hamill (Easton, CT) got behind the Charlotte defense and played a great bending cross to Lukasz Tumicz (Bisztynek, Poland), who calmly took it on his chest and the volleyed the ball into the top left corner. It was a beautiful goal and only rivals Danleigh Borman's (Cape Town, South Africa) game-winning scissor kick versus Dayton as goal of the year.
The 49ers did not lay down and die but turned up the heat a notch when the second half began. Their direct play and counter attacking style was all we could handle for a while. Their pressure and determination unfortunately paid off with a goal of their own following a bevy of shots that were blocked by Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) and our defense.
The guys continued fighting on and we got some tremendous chances including a Steve Mellen (North Kingstown, RI) effort as well as a blistering angled shot from Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) that nearly knocked down Charlotte's goalkeeper.
The match continued that way through regulation and into overtime with both teams having chances to win. The 49ers' effort nearly put us on the end of a bad result as the second overtime expired. Going into the extra time, I had told the boys to play to win BUT make sure we come away from the game with a point. In our excitement to do so, we forgot to manage the game and time remaining better. It's a lesson I hope we've learned - in the final minute of the game, do not rush a goal kick, turn over the ball and then foul within shooting distance.
The 49ers ended up heading a ball in for an apparent winner but their own request for a 10 yard wall was not followed with the referees whistle so it was called back. Even then, a last-second shot goes in and not off the crossbar (as it did) and we would be sitting on a 2-1 overtime loss. We were lucky, but happy to have gained a point away from home.
On Saturday, we traveled to our second city of the weekend, St. Louis, MO - "The Gateway to the West". We arrived in time to train at SLU and prepare to be without Adam Howarth (Isle of Wight, England) who faced suspension due to yellow card accumulation. With Kevin Algozer now with us in St. Louis (after his flight down with the URI field hockey team on Saturday) and Geoffrey Cameron back in the lineup, we again had a squad which we felt very comfortable with for our battle with the Billikens.
On a beautiful but blustery day in the city with the famous Arch (not McDonalds), the game was a rematch of last season's A-10 final. The squad came out well off the kick-off and dominated the first 15 minutes or so getting several chances against the wind. But, the game of soccer is a funny one as one mistake and you can be fighting an up hill battle. A lapse in concentration and recovery had a ball which Callum Bissett intercepted and cleared almost straight up, bounce once and then was hit on the volley from 25 yards out for a 1-0 deficit.
We have come back from these type of games before, but another mistake was converted into a 2-0 SLU lead before the end of the half. We knew we had to tighten our belt buckles and come out with all guns a blazing.
In the second half, we had the wind at our backs and it indeed made a difference. Leading scorer Lukasz Tumicz got a long ball from Steve Scalzo (Plymouth, MN), hit an angled shot which the SLU goalkeeper didn't hold and Kedan Crosby calmly tucked it into the net to cut to make it 2-1. We continued to press and found some more success but unfortunately a semi-break away goal against the run of play gave SLU a cushion and the final 3-1 score.
It was a game which we felt we could win, but again, mistakes against high-quality teams will cost you. I was very happy with the players effort - especially after playing 110 minutes of soccer on Friday night.
We now have 5 games remaining, all in the A-10, which - if all goes right - could position us for one of the top 2 seeds in the tournament. It certainly will not be easy. We have a week to prepare for our next game at UMass, who currently stands at 3-1 in the conference after splitting the weekend with a 1-0 win over SLU and 0-1 loss at Charlotte. It should be interesting and we hope you all come along for the ride!
GO RAMS!
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