Well, I promised more details on a weekend that was filled with ups and downs. Luckily the downs were sandwiched by the ups. We had an exciting overtime win on Friday, a disappointing loss on Sunday and then found out that we had secured the 6th seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament following the game so we were up again. I have to say we are thankful as we got a little help with the A-10's from some other teams and results but with that said we are glad to be able to keep playing!
Going into the weekend, we knew that we held our fate in our hands as two wins would guarantee us a spot. But this would be a tall task as coming to town were two very good teams in the form of Charlotte and Saint Louis.
On Friday, Charlotte came to town looking to secure its own place in the A-10 tournament. For those who were there, the game was an exciting one - an epic battle. We started the game out very well, seemingly catching the 49ers with a little jet lag or maybe adjusting to the long and wet grass of the northeast fall. Either way the guy's were buzzing and their hard work paid off when Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) got behind the Charlotte defense and drove a ball back across the box were Andres Perdomo (Pawtucket, R.I.) connected for his first goal of the year. The 49ers came back and equalized with a header that just eluded the fingertips of goalkeeper Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, Kansas) who was filling in for regular starter Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) who was injured in training the day before.
We went into the half tied 1-1 but we came out with a flurry. In the second stanza, we came out firing but the game stayed that way through regulation. Charlotte had some good looks at the goal but was kept off the board thanks to some timely saves by Peyton Warwick. In the second overtime, our chance came when after a cross by Domenic Petrarca (Providence, R.I.) was cleared, freshmen midfielder Reece Markman (Dallas, Texas) collected the ball and drove a ball across the box where Kedan Crosby calmly let the ball run through his legs and healed it under the 49ers goalkeeper for the win. We had done our job for the night but we still had some important business ahead of us.
On Saturday, we had a light workout and a swim to loosen up the muscles from our seventh overtime game of the year. Saint Louis, who was coming to town on Sunday for the final regular season game of the year, had just had their own overtime game at UMass, that they lost 2-1. So, SLU had their backs against the wall too as a loss to us meant that they could be out of the A-10 tournament for the first time since they joined the league. It made for a very interesting storyline...
Sunday was a bright and beautiful day as we honored our four seniors prior to the beginning of the match. Kedan Crosby, Kevin Hamill (Easton, Conn.), Andres Perdomo and James Quiah (Providence, R.I.) were all playing their last regular season home games at the URI Soccer Complex. As always, it is a pretty emotional day for me but the boys were ready to get the game going.
However, if we had known what the outcome was going to be beforehand, we might not have been as eager to start. A good Saint Louis team dominated us from start to finish scoring 4 of their 5 goals on re-starts. To be on the short end of a 5-0 score on Senior Day was definitely not what we wanted but our disappointment soon turned to elation as we discovered through Assistant Sport Communications Director Jodi Pontbriand that a 1-0 Charlotte loss to UMass coupled with the 2-1 upset of George Washington by St. Bonaventure had given us the 6th seed in the A-10 Tournament. We had another chance to keep playing and prove to ourselves that Sunday's performance was not a reflection of the capabilities of the this team.
Now we are preparing to head off to Pittsburgh, Pa. where Duquesne University is hosting this years' tournament. We will face 3rd seeded Dayton which looked to be the run away winner of the regular season title, until late losses to Temple and Xavier spoiled it for them. They are a talented team which we beat in the regular season in 2007 on a spectacular flying side volley by Red Bull New York player Danleigh Borman '08 with about 3 minutes to go. We have our work cut out for us but we are excited to have the opportunity to compete for the A-10 Tournament title again.
Before I sign off, congratulations goes out to both Geoff Cameron and Danleigh Borman who have been working towards an MLS Championship. Geoff was recently named one of the three finalists for Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year. Danleigh's NY Red Bulls and Geoff's Houston Dynamo also played against each other in the first round of the playoffs with the Red Bull upsetting the two-time defending champs 4-1 on aggregate. Geoff is also up for Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Year... CLICK HERE to vote for him!
In one of the other MLS quarterfinal, former URI Ram and all-time leader in points Andy Williams came on as a substitute in the 80th minute for Real Salt Lake to help them secure a spot in the semi-finals.
Well, that's about it from here. Keep an eye out for the results through www.gorhody.com and if you are in or around Pittsburgh we would love to see you come out and support the team!
GO RAMS!
Coach O'C
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