September 3, 2009

Dear Alumni & Friends,

We’re off and running and what an exciting game it was the other night in the home opener against defending ACC Tournament Champion Boston College. It was a beautiful night and we got a great crowd considering that classes don't begin until September 9th. There was a little dew on the ground that made for a fast game for both teams.

The game started at a furious pace with both teams playing with the energy of the first game of the season. BC nearly got on the board just about 2 minutes into game as an Eagles forward side volleyed a ball that just missed the outside of the right post. The guy’s persevered and created a few opportunities of their own from Reece Markman (Dallas, TX), John Pereira (Barrington, RI) and Andres Ruiz (Providence, RI). BC threatened again when a hard shot hit the post but luckily didn’t tickle the net. Half-time came with the game tied 0-0.

The second stanza began and it looked like we had got the lead on a Franco LoPresti (Whitby, Ontario) cross which bounded off the BC keeper and into the goal but was waved off for a foul. It didn’t take long after that for the Rams to get the actually lead. After a BC foul on the right side of the box, senior midfielder Gary Crooks (Falkirk, Scotland) bent a beautiful free kick over the Eagle wall and into the top left hand corner for his first goal of the season. The tally sent electricity in the air and the next 10 minutes the guy’s were buzzing. But, BC was too good a team to lie down and accept defeat but instead mounted a fierce attack that put our guy’s on their heels for a bit in the last 20 minutes. Senior goalkeeper and captain Chris Pennock (Spennymoor, England) had to come up with a couple of very good saves including a “blast” from BC’ Jeremiah Gallington from 35 yards out that he tipped over the bar and a second on a skipping and dipping shot that he just smothered. When the final whistle blew Rhody had earned a hard fought win over a quality opponent.

Next up on the schedule is old friend and alumnus Gareth Elliott and his Siena College squad on Sunday September 6th in Loudonville, NY. The Saints are coming off their own 1-0 victory over the University of Vermont in Burlington. It should be another great match as I know “G” and assistant and fellow alumnus Ahmad Manning will have their squad well prepared.

It will be a busy couple of weeks with the Siena match, classes starting on September 9th and then our trip up to my old stomping grounds Dartmouth College for their Nike/Hypertherm Classic where we play Iona and the hosts. It will be the first time back for me in a long time and in particular to play on Burnham Field, a brand new soccer only complex named for former Dartmouth coach, administrator and good friend Whitey Burnham who passed away last spring. Whitey was a kind and bright face for me when I went to the NSCAA Convention where he was one of the “red apron gang”. He was also a tremendous gentleman and mentor to young coaches because his handling of people transcended the decades since he last coached. It will be an honor to play on that field.

The next home game is Wednesday September 16th at 7:00 pm against the University of Hartford followed by our 2nd Annual Grassroot Soccer fund-raiser on Saturday September 19th versus interstate rival Brown University. Kick off is 7:00 pm. Last year at Brown we made a donation of $1,000 to this global Aids and HIV prevention and education organization. Admission is FREE although we are asking for a minimum $1 donation that will go directly to benefit Grassroot Soccer. Hope to see you there…

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C