October 25, 2010

Dear Alumni & Friends,

We’re back from Philadelphia and it was a rather somber mood on the bus to Kingston last night. I wish I was able to report on a couple of Rhody wins but unfortunately we’ve come away with a 0-2 loss to St. Joe’s and 0-1 setback to Temple. The trip to Philly is always a tough as not only do you face the difficult challenge of playing Atlantic 10 conference games but one is on a small turf field of St. Joe’s and the other on the grass at Temple’s at Ambler Field, which is located quite a distance away from the main campus.

As with most of these entries, I try to convey the mood and details of the games, essentially trying to put you there with us. This is one of the first times that I feel a bit speechless. As I said to the boys after the heartbreaking lost to Temple 1-0, “I can’t ask much more from you and I’m proud of your efforts."

Suffice to say you would be very, very proud of them too - whether as a Rhody Alum, parent or friend of the program. The way they are handling themselves, the effort they are putting forth and the collective spirit and camaraderie they have showed during this difficult season is amazing. I don’t know if I could have done it at their age.

Before going on, I need to send a special thanks out to John & Valerie Tanke for the dinner and fun they treated the team to on Saturday night at Dave & Busters. It was a lot of fun and, in the process, the guys gained at new teammate in a 4-foot high stuffed monkey.

On Sunday, we had also had a wonderful tailgate following the match versus Temple hosted by Bruce & Teresa Apt. It was quite an occasion and included Ryan Apt’s grandparents and extended family, Judy Balicki, Angie & Hadley Warwick, Jerry & Nancie Preyss as well as Matt’s sister and baby niece, Wendy Palmer, Nancy & Matt Eckmayer and Jamie’s siblings, Paul & Shelly Haught, Barbara & Greg Gomez, the Tanke’s and Bill Markman. They were two very nice events that we were all very appreciative of the supportive and great food.

Before I close, just a reminder that we have our last two home games next weekend when La Salle and Fordham on Friday October 29th at 7:00 pm and Sunday October 31st at 1:00 pm. The game on Halloween will be a particularly special day as it is SENIOR DAY. Prior to the game, we will honor our six seniors in a pre-game ceremony. It would be great to get our alums, families and friends there. Following the game we will be holding our second annual end of the home regular season tailgate so let us know if you will be there!

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C

October 18, 2010

Dear Alumni & Friends,

Saturday night turned out to be a great night for soccer, even though it began as a cold and blustery day here in South County. The wind died down and the temperature stabilized as the UMass Minutemen rolled into town for our annual neighborly Atlantic 10 battle between travel partners. Everything was looking good as we also had our friends at Ocean State Youth Soccer on hand for some half-time games as well as the Richmond Cub Scouts (including a snappy dressed and proud as a peacock Michael O’Connor) there for the pre-game introductions. But at the end of the day a goal in the 87th minute brought back the chills and gave the game to UMass.

It’s hard to describe the game but I can assure you it was a very good performance, one that was entertaining and competitive as every URI versus UMass game always is. As in the Xavier game, we started out very well and nearly got a superb goal from Greg Balicki (Wilbraham, MA) on a right-footed volley that looked from our vantage point on the bench, destined for the side netting. But the UMass goalkeeper came out of nowhere to swat it away. We kept the momentum and controlled the tempo of the game going into the intermission deadlocked 0-0.

In the second half we again came out storming creating quality chances but the UM keeper again rose to the task snuffing out a point blank shot by sophomore Matt Ribbens (Tinley Park, IL), a skim header by redshirt freshmen Joey Haught (Brecksville, OH) off a free kick and shot at an angle by senior Matt Preyss (Chagrin Falls, OH) that got deflected off the face of the goal going through as well as another attempt which was cleared off the line by a Massachusetts defender.

Nonetheless, it seemed it would be just a matter of time before we would get the game winner when lightning struck. A 25 yard shot by UM midfielder Chris Stoker (a transfer from Providence) knuckled, dipped and skipped into the corner just 4 minutes from time. As one of the UMass was heard exclaiming after the game “Thank God for the Jubulani” referring to the game ball that we use - the match ball used at the 2010 World Cup that was widely criticized for its “movement” at the altitude of South Africa.

It was quite a disappointment for everyone but as many of you have experienced, funny things happen in the Atlantic 10 so we know that the season is not over. Although it was made a little more difficult with this loss, the boys are keeping their heads up and will begin to prepare for our trip next weekend to Philadelphia where we will meet Saint Joseph’s University on Friday and Temple University on Sunday. Every game from now till the end of the season is an important one but we are not going to get ahead of ourselves but taking one game at a time.

Before I sign off, I want to send out an open invitation to all of our friends, families and alumni to the last home games of the season on Halloween weekend. La Salle and Fordham come to town with SENIOR DAY on Sunday October 31st. It is a great chance to honor our senior class so we hope we will see you there.

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C

October 12, 2010

Dear Alums & Friends,

Spent the day yesterday with the family for the Columbus Day holiday. It was a nice reprieve after what was honestly a frustrating Sunday in Kingston. In looking back, it was a weekend that under different circumstances we might have been happy with the outcome. But, for myself, our staff and the our guy’s it was a difficult pill to swallow considering the opportunity that was presented to us.

Rewind to Friday for the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference opener versus defending A10 regular season Champ University of Dayton. It was a beautiful night to play after some not so nice weather during the week. What we heard through our scouting report was that Dayton was a big athletic team with no more than 2 starters under 6 feet tall. This would be a challenge but it certainly wasn’t something that deterred the boy’s. From start to finish it was a great battle. Out of the gate Dayton the Flyers had the best of it but we soon found our legs and got a hold of the game. The first half ended in a stalemate with neither team having the better of the other. In the second half the tides began to change a bit as we began to generate chances that came in bunches. The best of which came from a Reece Markman (Dallas, TX) layoff to Thomas Lindroos (Espoo, Finland) inside the box that was saved point blank by the UD netminder. In overtime again we seemed to get the best of the chances but nearly lost a goal if not for a desperation slide tackle by central defender Franco LoPresti (Whitby, Ontario) that literally saved the game for us. The match finished a 0-0 draw and earned a point we certainly would take proudly considering the gutsy performance.

On Sunday, Dayton’s travel partner Xavier University came to down following a 0-2 loss to UMass on Friday. We started the game with a BANG hitting the post and earning a corner in the games first 5 minutes. It seemed as though all was on our side until the 8th minute when on Xavier’s first chance they got on the board. Lady Luck looked the other way 3 minutes later and we were down 0-2 and stunned a bit. If you had missed the first 15 minutes and the scoreboard wasn’t working you would have seen one-way traffic with the Rams leading the way. Our dominance in corners (17 to 1) and shots (25 to 7) couldn’t get us a victory as a bevy of attempts including a point blank volley by Jon Pereira (Barrington, RI) who along with Lindroos and Markman recorded 5 shots a piece, were thwarted. It seemed we just couldn’t catch a break even when a rocket of a shot by Matt Preyss (Chagrin Falls, OH), destined for the back of the net got deflected at the last minute or the three glance headers by Lindroos on there way to tickling the twine seemed to have eyes and steer around the post. The game was just not to be ours in spite of the tremendous offensive effort we put forth.

But, as we all know the first weekend of the conference season, although important does not a season make. Last season we opened with two losses but ended as the 4th seed in the A-10 tournament. Up next is our New England rival and travel partner the UMass Minutemen on Saturday October 16th. It will certainly be a great match as it always as the UM is led by National Player of the Year candidate Ben Arikian. Kick-off is at 7:00 pm at the URI Soccer Complex and we hope to see all of you there.

Before I sign off I wanted to pass along a link to an article that appeared on the front back of the Boston Globe sports section last week on URI’s all-time leader in points and MLS veteran Andy Williams of the Real Salt Lake. It was a real nice piece and hope you enjoy it:

http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2010/10/05/williamss_odyssey_has_a_happy_ending/

Finally, following our trip to play the University of South Florida and subsequent visit by former URI Coach Geza Henni and his son’s Geza Jr. and Chris, I have received a boat load of emails reflecting back on their time playing under the URI coaching legend. Below are some excerpts from one such email…

I was a member of URI's men's soccer program from 1969 to 1972 (graduating in 1973); one year on the Freshman squad and then a three-year starter, mostly as sweeper (at least that's what we called it back then). First, let me apologize for not composing this prior to your Florida trip. However, I do want to share some memories from that period:

Although I was a defender, I did score two goals in my URI career, one at BC and one at BU. Unfortunately, the latter was an “own goal” and we lost 3-1; Coach was not happy!

Winning the Yankee Conference in 1972 (back then, it included all the New England state schools (UVM, UMass, etc.) and some others, like BU and BC. The season came down to the last game that was played at Storrs against UConn, with the winner taking the crown. We played in front of the biggest crowd of my soccer career, and we dominated - winning 5-1!

As a result of the above, we earned a berth into the NCAA New England Regional that Fall. This was first time any URI team reached an NCAA Tournament, so we were pretty pumped. There were four teams: Harvard (ranked #1 in New England and #3 nationally); Brown (our arch rival and also ranked nationally); URI; and UConn.

Of course, we got to play Harvard, in Cambridge, in a monsoon and without one of our star defenders (Pete Schneider), who sustained a broken leg at UMaine a few weeks prior. While we played them tough, we ultimately lost 1-0 on a disputed goal scored with less than two minutes remaining, but we left with our heads held high because no one had given us a chance. Almost as memorable, was the feast afterwards at Mamma Leone’s in Boston, courtesy of our Athletic Director, where we celebrated with the many supporters that came up from Kingston. I think the bill was almost $900, a huge sum at the time. On the way back to campus, Coach had the bus drop off our co-captain and leading scorer, Luis Calvalho, at his house in East Providence!

In addition to the necessary training and game preparation that Coach excelled at (including the dreaded 2-mile runs around the outside perimeter of the fields behind Keaney Gym), he also made sure we had fun. Most notably:

We had very competitive tournaments on the adjacent tennis courts (without cleats), using soccer balls that weren't allowed to hit the ground

If we prodded him, Coach would get in the goal and dare us to score on him (we almost never did). Back then we all thought that anyone over 30 was old, but he’d put on a show, shut us down and was very modest about it all.

Finally, long bus rides to away games were the norm, the worst being the annual sojourn to Orono, Maine (sorry Coach O'Connor), to play the Black Bears. It was six+ long hours on Route 95 that cut through the deep woods of Maine, with no cell phones or laptops for diversions! But what we had, was better – Coach used to tell us the stories of how he and his family fled the Nazis before and during WWII. While my memory is fading somewhat (I’m in the over 30 crowd now too!), what I remember is that all of us were riveted to every word of those real life tales.

I have very fond memories of my playing days at URI and a big part of that, of course, was Coach Henni. I would appreciate your passing this note on to him. While, I have lost contact with him and my teammates over the years, I am sure that I’m speaking on their behalf when I wish Coach the warmest congratulations on an outstanding career and a wonderful family (Geza Jr. was just a little guy back then, but you could just see the talent oozing out of him!).

Good luck the rest of the season - Go RAMS!
Best regards,
Don Gilmore '73

Thanks Dan for a great recount of some wonderful days playing here at URI. I can tell you it was no picnic for me to travel from Orono to most of our good New England games during the 80’s… LOL.

But, as I read through the emails I can’t help but keep asking myself the question: What can we do for Coach Henni to show him how much he meant to URI and the program? I think it is about time and I have some very good ideas but it is going to take all of you alums out there to make it happen. Interested? Contact me via e-mail or phone and I’ll fill you in fully.

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C

October 4, 2010

Dear Alumni & Friends,

I had a whirlwind of a Sunday with church, Sunday School, Chariho Youth Soccer games with my kids Megan and Michael (Megan’s team won their first game 2-0 and Michael tied 3-3, scoring 2 goals) and then out to dinner with Trish and Terry Casey '85 - which was the first time Sheila and I have been out in quite a while. So, I am a little late with the weekend update.

Saturday was an emotional roller coaster of a night that ended on a bright note in a 1-1 draw with Fairfield. For those of you who were there, it was an ending that you will not see very often in your goalkeeper scoring a goal, other than on a penalty shot.

It was a beautiful night and we had a good crowd - which again included a lot of our supporters from Chariho Youth Soccer. We started out very sharp and things were going well until unfortunately a miscommunication between Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, KS) and Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) ended with the ball at a Stag forward's foot with an open goal in front of him for the 1-0 lead.

It was a bit deflating because things had started so well but the guys preserved and kept at it, creating good chances including a ball that freshmen Tom Palmer (Hummelstown, PA) drove across the front of the goal that sophomore forward Thomas Lindroos (Espoo, Finland) just couldn’t quite reach. Central defender Franco Lo Presti (Scarborough, Ontario) nearly got us the equalizer on a corner so we went into the break looking ahead to the second half.

We came out of half-time with a fire, led by some dangerous runs forward by co-captain Matt Preyss (Chagrin Falls, OH) and inspired combination play by senior Greg Balicki (Wilbraham, MA), junior forward Reece Markman (Dallas, TX) and junior David Malloy (Oxford, England) - who had dropped into the midfield. We seemed to have the best of the second stanza, fighting, scratching and clawing our way through the game.

We’ve talked a lot about making sure we finish the game strong and we did just that, earning a corner kick with about 1 minute left in regulation. We pushed everyone in - including goalkeeper Peyton Warwick. We got great service from senior Jon Pereira (Barrington, RI) that found David Malloy’s head and what looked to be the tying goal. But the ball hit a Fairfield defender in the chest, dropped down and forward/goalkeeper Warwick lashed into the goal. WOW! An ESPN top 10 moment and great retribution Peyton, whose plus/minus in hockey would have been a 0 for the night.



In overtime both teams had their chances but the best came when Pereira hit a volley from about 10 yards out that front the bench area looked as though it had eyes but only a good save by the Stags goalkeeper kept it a draw. We would have loved the win but in the end the tie was an important stepping stone going into the second season that is Atlantic 10 Conference play.

It all begins this weekend with an A-10 doubleheader starting with Friday’s clash with defending regular season champion Dayton at 7:00 pm. Then on Sunday, we take on the second of our Ohio opponents with a mid-day match vs. Xavier at Noon... PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A CHANGE IN START TIME. ADMISSION IS FREE so come one come all to cheer for your hometown boys!

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C

October 1, 2010

Dear Alumni & Friends,

I just arrived back on campus yesterday after an early morning departure for us all on our 7:55 am flight back to Rhode Island. The 2-0 loss at South Florida was a disappointment as two early goals off of corner kicks gave the Bulls a cushion that we just couldn’t get past.

It was a bit of a tale of two halves with the second more our way but not enough to tickle the back of the net. After being on our heels for a bit, we were able to find our way into the game, out cornering the hosts in the second half as well as creating some good chances that put USF under pressure and uncomfortable.

Defensively, we stayed organized and although the stats look as though USF were shooting at will, only a few chances were truly dangerous and, even then, goalkeeper Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, KS) kept us in the game with a couple of key stops including a semi-breakaway. We got some encouraging wide play from sophomore Jamie Eckmayer (Harrison Park, NJ) and freshmen Tom Palmer (Hummelstown, PA) as well as couple of surging runs from sophomore forward Thomas Lindroos (Espoo, Finland) who is just returning from injury.

As you know, the past three matches have been tough on us as we have played three very good teams away from home and haven’t come away with a result. Getting ourselves more chances in attack is going to be key as we move towards the A-10 season. The old adage is true, “if you don’t shoot you can’t score”.

The trip to South Florida was not one without its’ rewards as we received late news in the afternoon before the game that former URI head coach Geza Henni would be attending the game. As the team was warming up, I looked up into the stands and there he was sitting there with his sons Geza Jr. ‘83 and Chris. The folks at the University of South Florida were gracious enough to rope off some seats in the front row of the stands so he could get a good view of the game.

It was a wonderful sight to see the man who put University of Rhode Island soccer on the map. I remember travelling to Kingston as a college player at the University of Maine for the final game of the season and taking a 7-0 drubbing led by Geza Jr’s hat trick. I came away from that game thinking that these were the first real complete soccer players I had played against. The UConn and Boston University teams of that era were big strong athletic kids who played the soccer but Coach Henni’s squad was filled with skillful and smooth players with some ethnic flare and a better feel for the game. They were a team way ahead of their time.

Anyway, I was really happy he attended and our players got to meet a real Rhody legend and Hall of Famer. Attached is a photo of Coach Henni and his sons as well as some of our parents/friends with the team after the game. Geza Jr. said in an email of the evening:

"It was a wonderful evening for my dad, me and Chris. I can’t thank you enough. In the midst of getting ready for kickoff and right after a tough match, you and the players so gracefully and warmly took the time to visit with us. I could tell it really touched my dad to have this outpouring of affection."



As I said we had a nice little following in the stands as also attending the game were Pat Maguire ’92, Nancy & Matt Eckmayer, Bob Gargaro, Angie & Hadley Warwick, Bob & Anne Kuklinski and URI track & field alum & former assistant coach Sarah Thornton.

Well, no rest for the weary as we finish off the non-conference part of the schedule by hosting Fairfield this Saturday evening, October 2nd, 7:00 pm at the URI Soccer Complex. The last time we were there it was an exciting 2-1 overtime win over Siena College.

The following weekend, the Atlantic 10 Conference schedule is under way with defending A-10 regular season champion Dayton coming to town (Friday October 8th at 7:00 pm) followed by a Sunday afternoon match against Xavier (at 12 Noon…THIS IS A CHANGE IN START TIME). ADMISSION IS FREE so come one come all.

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C