September 19, 2011

Dear Alumni & Friends,

It was a great weekend here in Kingston with our 2-1 win over Holy Cross on Saturday night. We had a great crowd as it was a perfect night to play combined with Chariho Youth Soccer Night. It was a great environment as hours before kick-off the CYSA players and parents were tailgating in the Ryan Center parking lot with activities like “Plinko” and impromptu soccer games abound. The Holy Cross bus unfortunately ran over one of the kids soccer balls upon arrival and luckily it belonged to one Michael O’Connor. Holy Cross Coach Ted Priestly felt horrible but no worries, Michael certainly has a few extra at home.

The game started off well and the half was marked by some of the best soccer we’ve played this season. The ball was moving crisply on the dewy grass and the positive energy and vibes from the crowd paid off when freshmen forward Ross Morison (Linlithgow, Scotland) got on the end of classmate Matt Sykes (Sheffield, England) driven ball, after pressuring a Holy Cross defender into a mistake and slid the ball by the onrushing Crusader goalkeeper for the opening goal of the game.

The second half became quite a battle as the tempo picked up as the game clock ticked down. We got a couple of great chances including a Sykes drive from an angle and Trevor Moran (Wilbraham, MA) volley from the top of the box and subsequent rebounds that were eventually cleared. The Crusaders created some chances of their own and eventually found the equalizer in the 71st minute.

The next 19 minutes the guy’s battled away with a scrappy HC team and their determination paid off when senior midfielder Reece Markman (Dallas, TX) curled in a cross behind the purple defense that junior forward Jamie Eckmayer (Harrington Park, NJ) redirected into the corner to take the lead again. Senior goalkeeper Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, KS) was solid in the goal, cutting out the Crusaders penetrating crosses and snuffing out a couple of good free kick chances. In the waning minute we almost got a third goal when Jamie Eckmayer broke free and tried to feed roommate Robby Gargaro (Naperville, IL) who had surged forward off his interception but couldn’t connect for the tally. The final whistle blew and victory was in the book for Rhody.

Next on the docket is ACC foe Boston College who comes to Kingston on Friday September 23rd at 7:30 pm. The game is part of a URI soccer doubleheader as the Rhody women play Iona at 5:00 pm followed by our match with the Eagles. That night will be our 4th Annual Grassroot Soccer fundraiser. Grassroot Soccer is a global HIV/Aids education organization who uses soccer to teach the youth of Africa about abstinence and the prevention of this devastating disease. Admission is free but a suggested donation of $5 for adults and $1 for children/students will be taken at the gate. Our URI players will be selling Grassroot Soccer t-shirts on campus this week and additional opportunities for contributing will be available throughout the evening.

Over the past four seasons we have raised over $8,000 towards GSS. As in the past all donations from the game and t-shirt sales go directly to support this worthy cause.. For more information on Grassroot Soccer go to grassrootsoccer.org.

Finally, the weekend finished up with a Sunday afternoon tilt with the always competitive Yale University Bulldogs in a 1:00 pm at the URI Soccer complex. Yale is coming off a 7-0 thrashing of Marist College so we will certainly have our hands full on the weekend. Hope to see you all at both games...

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C

P.S. CLICK HERE to check out a nice article on our local guy Michael Casey (Wakefield, RI), son of Terry (and Trish) Casey ‘85.