Well, we are still in the hunt for the A-10 Tournament after splitting the weekend in New York and Philadelphia. We were hoping to come away with two wins but we were on the good and bad end of 1-0 scores.
On Friday night in the Bronx, we came up against a tough Fordham team who, like us, was fighting for a spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship. So, the table was set for a hard competitive match. The first half was a little of a seesaw battle and as it progressed we seemed to be getting our rhythm and some chances but could never get too close. Greg Balicki (Wilbraham, MA) got behind the other Rams' defense dangerously a couple of times and we just nearly missed a driven cross that went through the box. And then - as of late - the worst thing happened... halftime came.
Fordham came roaring out and we were suddenly under siege in a very direct style of soccer. Goalkeeper Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) was called upon to make three outstanding saves to keep us in it. On the attacking side, we got very few chances - mostly coming from midfielder Kevin Hamill (Easton CT) - but other than that we had a tough time generating any attack in a game that was basically played from one 18-yard box to the other. Fordham kept coming and eventually their midfielder crossed a ball that a Fordham forward just barely headed away from Pennock, and ever so slowly found its' way behind, lightly off the post and in... with 3 minutes to go. If was a difficult pill to swallow, particularly in that we weren't able to muster any good chances ourselves.
Saturday we travelled to Philadelphia and were tempted to drop in on the Meadowlands in NJ to catch the MLS playoffs which featured former Rams Geoff Cameron of the Houston Dynamo and Danleigh Borman of New York Red Bull. By the way, the match was a draw with the second leg being in Houston this week. But, we had to get to the "City of Brotherly Love" to get used to the surface at La Salle which was only 66 yards wide but 120 yards long. Sunday couldn't have come any sooner after the team had a heart-to-heart on Saturday night. We boys were up and ready to go, partially because of the change in day light savings time and the need to get out there and prove themselves to get back in the A-10 hunt.
As any team in the league will tell you, La Salle is a tough place to play and their record was in no way indicative of their abilities as they had beat Charlotte earlier in the season. The game was an entertaining one which saw both teams getting at it from the start. It was senior day for the Explorers so emotion was on their side. But, our resounding need to get things back on track was in our minds and hearts. We got some great performances out of central midfielders Gary Crooks (Falkirk, Scotland) and Andres Ruiz (Providence, RI) who locked down the midfield. The effort paid off midway through the second half as freshmen midfielder Reece Markman (Dallas, TX) took a feed from Domenic Petrarca (Providence, RI) and hammered a shot from the right side of the box into the left side netting that the goalkeeper never moved for... 1-0 Rams!
After withstanding a little pressure and getting another great save from Chris Pennock, we nearly made in 2-0 in the waning minutes when Errko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) went through and got around the LU goalkeeper but ran out of field while trying to deposit it in an empty net. It proved not to be needed as the game ended without change.
Now, the big test comes this weekend when Charlotte and Saint Louis come to town for the last regular season games of the year. The A-10 tournament is still in reach and I believe if we stay together we can get there. Sunday will be an emotional game as it is senior day where we will honor our seniors Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad), Kevin Hamill (Easton, CT), Andres Perdomo (Pawtucket, RI) and James Quiah (Providence, RI) who will be playing their last games...at least at home! Hope anyone who is around will come by and cheer us on in the all important weekend!
GO RAMS!
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