April 2, 2012

Dear Alumni & Friends,

We got back late last night from our trip to Albany, NY for two 60-minute matches hosted by Siena College led by head coach and URI Alum Gareth Elliott ‘01. The day was a little rainy and cold and there were predictions of snow the night before but it never materialized. The field turf at Siena played fast due to the conditions but that suited us well in the end.

The first game of the day matched us up with Masters Football Academy (Canada), coached by Junior Groves whose daughter Jeri transferred mid-year to URI to play for the women’s soccer team. Like Siena who played them before us, the game was in our control from the onset but we managed only 1 goal in the first 30 minutes. It came on a well paced through ball to junior forward Jamie Eckmayer ’13 (Harrington Park, NJ) from freshmen striking partner Ross Morison (Linlithgow, Scotland).

In the second half we continued to work away and finally wore them down, scoring 3 including a super chest control and volley by Michael Casey ‘15 (Wakefield, RI) and another on touch finish by Matt Sykes ’15 (Sheffield, England) after a cross and dummy over the ball. We would have had a 5th by junior defender Robby Gargaro (Naperville, IL) but unfortunately it was called back for a handball prior to his finish. It was good to tickle the twine a few times but we knew the second match would be a great challenge.

URI 4, Masters Academy U18 (Canada) 0
Scoring: J. Eckmayer (R. Morison), M. Casey (T. Lindroos), M. Casey (M. Sykes), M. Sykes (M. Ribbens, M. Casey)

Line-up: Spenser (Blanchard 30), Cloutier, Gargaro, Moran, Dragon (Kuklinski 30), Haught, Sykes, Ribbens, Tetzlaff (Janisznewski 45), Eckmayer (Casey 30), Morison (Lindroos 30).

In the second game versus the hosts, the pace was faster and hats off to our guy’s for adapting and responding well to some clever early one touch combination play by Siena. The game had its’ back and forth moments but we also had some of our own creative chances by virtue of a couple of nifty individual runs with the ball by Joey Haught (Brecksville, OH) and Matt Sykes. Siena had a couple of very good chances that just nearly missed as well as a goal called back for offside but the game stayed tied at the interval.

In the second 30 minutes we finally broke through with the first goal of the game as junior midfielder Andrew Tetzlaff’s (Livingston, NJ) tallied his first of the spring from a late back post run. In the closing 15 minutes the Saints put us under pressure but the boy’s held tight and thwarted the hosts advances. An insurance goal from Jamie Eckmayers, his second of the day, gave us breathing room until the final whistle.

URI 2, Siena 0
Scoring: A. Tetzlaff (M. Sykes), J. Eckmayer (T. Lindroos)

Starting Line-up: Spenser, Cloutier, Gargaro, Dragon, Moran (Kuklinski 30), Haught, Sykes, Tetzlaff, Ribbens, Morison (Lindroos 30), Casey (Eckmayer 30).

It was a good day on many fronts, scoring goals and keeping a clean sheet are great rewards for our goalkeepers Adam Blanchard (Scarborough, ME) and Thomas Spenser (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) who have been working hard with Goalkeeper Coach Chris Pennock.

After some recovery time this week we will host a Blue vs. White on Thursday April 5th at 7:00 pm at the URI Soccer Complex. We’ll then take the Easter weekend off and get back at the following week in preparation for hosting NCAA Division II team Assumption (CT) and American International College (MA) on Saturday April 14th beginning at 11:00 am. Hope to see you there!

GO RAMS!
Coach O’C

P.S. ALUMS, if you haven’t already don’t forget to RSVP to Assistant Coach Callum Bisset via the URI Alumni Facebook page or cbissett@mail.uri.edu for the Annual Alumni Game & BBQ on Sunday April 29th at 1:00 pm at the URI Soccer Complex. We have a good crew coming back and look to add to the list. Those who RSVP will be GUARANTEED a limited edition REPLICA GAME JERSEY to be worn during the match that are being ordered TOMORROW. So, don’t miss out...