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!