October 27, 2008

Sorry that this will be a short one today... Its one of our only full days rest in a while and I am off to do some errands this morning and then take the kids to get their pumpkins for Halloween after school. This past weekend when we had the guys over for pre-game brunch, my kids Megan and Michael were excitedly telling all the players what they would be for "All Hallows Eve". Megan is going as Jesse the cowgirl from the Disney movie Toy Story II and Michael (of course) will be a POWER RANGER!... The red one. Unfortunately, we will be in NY for Halloween but by the looks of the "bed head" some of the guys had on Sunday morning, they won't have to bring along a fright wig to scare anyone... that was scary enough!

Well, it wasn't the weekend we were hoping for but we came away from it with some important A-10 points... just not as many as we had hoped. We ended up tying 1-1 and 2-2 to George Washington and Richmond, respectively - our fifth and sixth overtime games of the season. Tying is always better than losing of course but it is a little disappointing considering we had chances to win in both games.

As tough as that is, its all we could ask of the guys and I'm proud of them for it. To be able to play that many extra periods takes a special bunch of players with the mental and physical toughness to get through it. We can attribute the latter to Director of Soccer Operations Frank Bergren who has them fit as a fiddle with "just 15 minutes". The former is a tribute to the competitiveness of the squad. The work hard every day in training, pushing themselves and their teammates to be better.

The league itself has been quite a strange one this season with Dayton being the only team to separate itself from the rest of the pack to date. If you look at the standings, it is still wide open for berths in the A-10 tournament - which is hosted by Duquesne the weekend of November 12-16. These weekends become more and more important to us and I am confident that we will rise to the occasion and be one of the top 6 by season's end. The greatest thing is that we have something to play for and that is incentive enough for player's as competitive as ours.

Freshman Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) had quiet a weekend after missing last Sunday at St. Bonaventure following a very curious ejection in the Duquesne game. He was VERY dangerous on Friday night, having a breakaway saved and just missing another point blank shot. He continued his work rate on Sunday and it paid off when he scored twice versus Richmond. He is a dynamite kid - both on an off the field - and I have been increasingly impressed with his progress. I look forward to what the future brings for him in Rhody Blue!

This weekend we hit the road for games at Fordham in the Bronx and La Salle in Philadelphia. Both should be great matches and we hope that all those alums and friends in the New York and Philly area will come out and see the guy's play. If you're not close, you can follow all the action thru Gametracher on www.gorhody.com.

Before I sign off, our friend Jodi Pontbriand from URI Sports Communications sent me this nice article on Danleigh Borman '08 concerning his career with New York Red Bull.

Both he and classmate Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo) continue to do well as does Lukasz Tumicz in his native Poland.

GO RAMS!
Coach O'C

October 20, 2008

For all of you who were on campus this past weekend for Homecoming 2008, we're sorry we missed you. Unfortunately, we were away for two important Atlantic 10 Conference games at Duquesne and St. Bonaventure. We hope all of you were in town for the festivities had a great time visiting with your friends, classmates and former Rhody teammates. It was fun to be around that atmosphere last year and we look forward to being in Kingston in the future.

The first leg of the doubleheader weekend was an exciting one... maybe more than we wanted but with the help of our international connection and a key goal in extra time, the team earned at Duquesne 3-2 which is always tough. The Dukes will host the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championships in November so it was nice to get familiar with the surface and environment.

The game itself was a tale of two halves, the first being a defensive struggle between the two sides with each team getting good chances. Duquesne's came VERY early in the first 45 minutes when one of their forwards slipped behind our defense an got off a quick shot that was destined to score. But, junior captain and goalkeeper Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) shot off his line and down to his right to snare a sure goal.

The game stayed at a stalemate going into the intermission but our boys came out of the gate on fire, determined to grab the lead and a victory. After a Duquesne foul in the attacking third, senior captain Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) alertly played a quick free kick to our Finnish striker Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) who burst behind the Dukes' defense and in on the goal to collect his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Kedan would later push the lead to 2-0 as he collected his own unassisted goal. The 2-0 advantage felt good but as those involved in the game will tell you, this score is often the most dangerous. And that it was...

After this time, the game took on a completely different look when Erkko - while trying to get through on goal for his second of the day - was fouled and ended up being sent off by the official. The reason was a mystery to us, since there was no fight or altercation, but we had to deal with it. Not surprisingly, that one decision changed everything, turning the game into what resembled a street fight at times. With 6 minutes left on the clock, the Dukes scored to make it a 2-1 game and again in the final minute (actually with just 14 seconds to go) got the equalizer. What a turn-around! It again shows why the 2-0 lead is the most dangerous.

Going into overtime we refocused, knowing that this was going to test our players' character and resolve. We had been in this position before and I reminded them that character was not about the size of their biceps but making the right decisions and doing the right things during moments when it is hard to do so.

It did not take long for Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) to change early into his Halloween costume in the form of a Superman cape and "bock" (Jamaican slang for heading the ball) a corner into the back of the net for the game winner. This was Dwayne's 3rd game-winning goal of the season which he credits all to the service of Gary Crooks (Falkirk, Scotland) which has been superb.

I commend the guys for showing their character and determination and finding a way to finish the game off.

The trip up to St. Bonaventure from Pittsburgh started off as an interesting one. We chartered a bus up to Olean, NY from the Steel City but did not expect what we got for our transportation. Upon gathering in the lobby for departure we met our bus driver who had arrived the day before from CANADA in his "chariot" (as he called it) that was a 28 passenger Niagara Falls Tour bus. It was not what we had ordered but after some phone calls to the bus company with some rather poignant words from assistant coach Mitch Stone, we none the less departed and got a tour of the beautiful Allegheny National Forest along the way. It was a great day to take a ride but took a little longer then expected as our chariot struggled a bit going up the mountains at times. We arrived in Olean, trained, had a nice meal and retired to our rooms to catch the Red Sox win game 6 of the ALCS.

The next day, we prepared for the second game of the weekend but unfortunately we didn't fair as well as Friday. St. Bonnies was in crisis mode to stay alive in the hunt for a place in the Atlantic 10 tournament and came out with a lot of energy. We played ok in the first half which ended 0-0 but a strike from about 30 yards out that hit the underside of cross bar and bounced down found it's way in the net in the second half.

The guys worked to get the goal back, but in the end could not find that one good chance to equalize and give us a chance to win. It was not for lack of trying! We just seemed a little flat and I've been racking my brain to figure out why. I told the players that it was as great opportunity to put us in a position to secure an early spot in the A-10 tournament, but unfortunately, we were unable to convert on the day.

This week we will prepare for our first home A-10 doubleheader weekend when George Washington and Richmond come to Kingston. I am confident the boys will rebound from the disappointing weekend in Olean and get back on track. It will be a dog fight in the league and we need to make sure we show our teeth and keep the other hounds at bay.

Before I sign off, I need to send along public congratulations to former Ram Michael Bradley '97 and Grandpa Ed Bradley on the birth of Brooke Neumann Bradley born Sunday October 19th at 4:28am, weighing 7lbs 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long. Another little Rhody Ram in the stable...

GO RAMS!
Coach O'C

October 13, 2008

Don't ever under value a rivalry... just ask the Hatfields and the McCoys. It may not be that bad, but as our alums told me when I first came to URI... the UMass games are pretty close. Today's match was an exciting one - so exciting I had to have my blood pressure checked at half-time. UMass was coming off a fantastic 2007 season where they reached the NCAA Final Four but history and past results go out the window when the Minutemen and Rams face off!

We started the day with a pre-game brunch at the O'Connor household. Although the guys enjoy the food on campus it is always nice to get them together away from campus for a home cooked meal. We had a beautiful day to work with, our first A-10 game to look forward to and three great recruits visiting campus. So, all looked right for the Rams.

I think the players would admit that we did not start the game the way we had hoped. It was a physical match - which didn't make it any easier - and were a little lethargic so it took us almost 30 minutes to get going. UMass took advantage of this, so going into the intermission we felt fortunate for the score to be 0-0.

The second half began much better with inspired play from junior defender Domenic Petrarca (Providence, R.I.) and co-captain Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) as well as freshmen Reece Markman (Dallas, Texas) that got us into a good rhythm. The Minutemen are a good squad that has experienced some tough results so we knew it would not be easy to break them down.

A week or so ago, Kedan reminded the team that former Ram Danleigh Borman (now in MLS with the New York Red Bull) used to tell the boys that sometimes you have to "grind out" a win... well the team remembered that today. It took 87 minutes to do so but after a yellow card foul by UMass, junior Gary Crooks (Falkirk, Scotland) sent a great free kick (one of many he has been serving this season) into the box that center back Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) redirected past UMass GK Zack Simmons, who by the way is a classy kid.

It was a little hairy in the end with UMass getting one last chance on a free kick but the horn sounded and all was right in Rhodyville...

Although the guys get today off for the Columbus Day holiday, it will be a short week leading into an Atlantic 10 doubleheader weekend at Duquesne (Pittsburgh) and St. Bonventure (Olean, N.Y.) next Friday and Sunday. As nationally-ranked Saint Louis (1-2 loss to Fordham) and Charlotte (1-2 loss to LaSalle) found this past weekend, there are no easy games in the A-10 so we can't and aren't going to take any of the remaining games lightly if we want to be playing in the A-10 tournament come November.

GO RAMS!

October 6, 2008

Well, former assistant coach and alum Gareth Elliott '02 must still have a little of that URI magic from his days as a player and coach with him when he came to Kingston this past Friday night. Maybe it was in the pre-game meal at Kingston Pizza or that he sprinkled it on his Siena College side in warm-up. Whatever the big elf did, he combined it with a good work ethic and determination for a 2-1 overtime win. As he told me after the game, it was a little strange for him and his two assistants (URI alums Ahmad Manning `02 and Aiden Byrne `01) to come back home to Rhode Island and defeat a team they are so attached to. But weird or not, he and his Saints took advantage of our errors in OT and capitalized on them.

The game was a good one with a fun crowd comprised not of only parents, coaches and players from Chariho Youth Soccer but our loyal friends and alums, who were excited to see Gareth and his new team. The match was an entertaining one with both teams coming out with a fury. The stalemate was not broken until the 28th minute when Siena opened the scoring with goal from 25 yards that was shot along the dewy grass of a fall night, squirted under goalkeeper Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) and off the post for a 1-0 lead into intermission.

While the Chariho Youth Soccer U12 squad entertained the crowd with a halftime exhibition game, the team re-grouped and got ready for the second period. The boys came out with a renewed sense of purpose and it did not take long for it to pay off. Things all came together when sophomore forward Josh Sousa (Barrington, R.I.) took on a couple of Saints defenders and unleashed a shot that the Siena GK could not hold. Senior co-captain Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) was there to volley in the rebound for his first goal of the season knotting the game at one. It was a well deserved goal for the work he has been doing thus far.

Down the stretch we gained momentum and only a couple of good saves and blocks by the Siena defense and netminder kept it 1-1. So, it was on to overtime.

The overtime seemed to belong to the Rams and we were on the cusp of finishing our third overtime game this season the way we did the first two, with a win. But, as the game of soccer can be a cruel one, the game unfortunately would not be ours that night.

Coach Elliott got the upper hand on his old boss and handled it with the class and respect he always showed as a player and assistant. The result was a tough pill to swallow, especially when we were in a position to win the game. But, this is the way the game goes and we must tip our hats to Siena for finding a way to win.

The great thing for us is that we have another game next week - and it's a big one!

Next Sunday we not only open the Atlantic 10 season but we host our neighbor and rival UMass - which made it to the NCAA Final Four in 2007. It will certainly be a competitive one as the Minutemen are not only a quality squad - but also the team that put us out of the A-10 tournament in last year. So, if you planned on coming to a game this year, and have not yet, this will be a good one to see!

Before I sign off, I wanted you to be aware that you will soon be receiving a letter from me concerning our annual alumni & friends appeal. This is an important time of the year as we are looking for the financial support to cover expenses and needs of our program that the state budget does provide us with. There are things we need to keep up with our contemporaries including: video scout and computer editing equipment, training equipment and needs in preparation for hosting the Atlantic 10 Tournament in 2009. We want it to be a first class event so we need your help in making it so.

For those of you here in Rhode Island, you know with the recent and continued budget cuts from the State House, being self-sufficient will become even MORE imperative in the coming years so keeping up with annual donations is crucial. Included in this letter will be a chance to support at the level that exemplifies your ability as well as the experience you had while at URI. We realize that our more recent and younger alums cannot give at the level that our older and more established veterans. But, I truly believe that EVERYONE has the ability to give something to the place that gave you so much in return. We are encouraging EVERY alum and friend to join us in important drive whether through your continued support or as a first time donor. PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN AND GO RAMS!

Coach O'C