October 31, 2007

The local weatherman said that it would be an unpredictable day, but it ended up being an afternoon with an unpredictable start and a very predictable finish...

It only took 44 seconds for UMass to get on the board. I remember turning to Gareth after the goal went in and saying, "We like to make it exciting don't we?" The game still had 89 minutes and 16 seconds to go and, by the time of the final whistle, we would end up using all of that time to get a decisive victory in Amherst.

The shot which scored ended up being the Minutemen's only shot on goal for the half and 1 of 3 for the day.

Massachusetts had beaten Saint Louis a week earlier in Missouri, 1-0, in what (statistically) would have looked like a lopsided victory for SLU. So, UMass knew how to get a lead and hold it, no matter what the box score said.

This was the only thing I was a little apprehensive about.

In the end, I was very proud of the way the team responded after getting behind the eight ball early. They stuck with their game plan and preparation. We were methodical and patient, keeping possession when we needed, and attacking with speed and preciseness when required.

In a physical game, we kept our cool and found the equalizer just before the half on a direct free kick from redshirt freshmen midfielder Andres Ruiz (Providence, RI). It was a great moment for Andres in that it was his first career goal. I was delighted for him as he has worked very hard to get to this point. He got himself up to speed academically in the classroom and trained intensely in the off-season to earn his spot on the team and now on the field. But it was just one of a couple of memorable moments for the day.

The second half opened with our squad controlling play. We were without the services of Lukasz Tumicz (Bisztnyek, Poland) and Dawid Badecki (Jelenia Gora, Poland), who were both struggling with injuries. But, the veterans picked up the slack and the newcomers grew just a little more to provide the push we needed.

Everything came together with about 15 minutes to go when Geoffrey Cameron (Attleboro, MA) dribbled through several UMass players to get into the penalty box where he unleashed a low shot that the Minuteman goalkeeper could only parry away.

First year Greg Balicki (Wilbraham, MA) then pounced on the rebound and slammed home his second goal of the year. It was the second great moment of the day, as Greg had not only notched the game winner but it was done in front of his family and friends. We had eaten dinner at the Balicki's the night before, so now we are convinced that there was something magical in the pasta!

Not soon after, we got a great insurance goal from Domenic Petrarca (Providence, RI) when he overlapped from his right back position and got in the box where Steve Mellen (North Kingstown, RI) slipped him a perfect pass that Dom guided into the far corner for his first career tally. It was a nice finish to a great comeback and effort in an important A-10 match up.

We now sit at 3-1-1 and are in 4th place in the league.

Every game from this point on is important as we control our fate towards our goal to be one of the top two seeds in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. We run the table and we will accomplish this benchmark.

This weekend is yet another big one as second-place Fordham (just two points ahead of us in the A-10 standings) comes to town on Friday.

It's also a special weekend with Sunday's game against La Salle being our last home game of the regular season and "Senior Day" for the nine players who will be playing their last game at the URI Soccer Complex.

It should be a nice pre-game ceremony as Dawid Badecki's parents are here in the US from Poland as are Adam Howarth's (Isle of Wight, England) and Callum Bissett's (Pencaitland, Scotland).

We hope that you can be there with us to celebrate this class of players that has accomplished so much throughout their careers at URI.

GO RAMS!