March 11, 2009

Greetings from Kingston! We're in the middle of the last week of training and classes before spring break and the guy's are looking forward to re-charging their batteries before the non-traditional season begins. The team has been working hard in the weight room as well as on fitness training with our soccer intern Steve Mellen '08. Steve has been keeping them busy with agility and cardiovascular work as well as some other projects around the office. The technical sessions on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 am - 7:30 am have been lively too but I think some of them won't miss being up at 6:30 am...

The past couple of months have been busy with a lot or action on the home front here and away from campus. It all began with Lance Klima '89 being inducted into the URI Athletic Hall of Fame at a wonderful ceremony at the Quidenessett Country Club in North Kingston. It was a great night for Lance, his family and our program. We are working on getting at least one URI soccer player inducted each time a class is installed (every 2 years) so make sure you nominate all too. The stronger the push the better for us all and we know there are a lot of guy's out there who are well deserving!

The Sunday of the Hall of Fame "Ice Breaker" weekend was our annual end of the season team banquet held at the Institute for International Sport (formally the International Student-Athlete Hall of Fame) here in Kingston. It was a nice afternoon with lunch and teams awards ceremony. Freshmen Erkko Puranen (Viitisaari, Finland) was the big winner on the day taking home the Len Mecurio Offensive Player of the Year and the Geza Henni MVP Award. The Kevin Murphy Defensive Player of the Year went to sophomore central defender Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) while the Ram Academic Achievement Award to classmate Matt Pryess (Chagrin Falls, OH). We were more than pleased for James Quiah (Providence, RI) to be voted as the Bob Davidson Sportsmanship Award recipient and surprised Terry Casey '85 with the Ed Bradley Alumni Service Award for all he has done in support of URI men's soccer and our fund-raiser Rams Football Club. The afternoon ended with a tremendously entertaining highlight video created by Assistant Coach Rob Czlonka. We are working to get it up on the website for you to all view but if you want to purchase a copy for $10 just let us know.

Concerning the future we happy to announce we have completed our recruiting for 2009! We are excited about the incoming class as they bring us a vast amount of experience as well as a tremendous base for the years to come. In addition to Matt Ribbens (Tinley Park, IL), Robby Gargaro (Naperville, IL) and Jamie Eckmayer (Harrington Park, IL) who signed back in February, we also recently got commitments from Nick Joshi (Perth, Western Australia) and Thomas Lindroos (Espoo, Finland) to complete the class. Our international contingent gives us the possibility of an all-Finnish striking tandem as Thomas will pair up with Erkko at times as well as a versatile left footed player in Nick who has seen time at the back, in the midfield and up top. I know they are excited to get to campus this August and we are too.

On the alumni front, former Ram central defender Adam Howarth '08 was back in the U.S. and on campus (visiting his girlfriend) and training in preparation for beginning his professional career AC Kajanni in Finland. The big man signed recently, looks good and I think he is ready to go. We'll be anxious to watch his progress. As most of you read in an earlier e-mail, former URI Gaffer Ed Bradley was inducted into the Soccer Rhode Island Hall of Fame the weekend of February 28th. An honor which was long overdue. His son Dr. Michael Bradley is off to Afganistan as part of his service in the United States Navy. We wish him safe travels and a swift return. Finally I heard from BJ Kochis '07 via e-mail who just got back from working Costa Rica working with his engineering company. He will now be moving to Baltimore and promises will be coming to the alumni game this spring.

Speaking of the Alumni Game, save the date of SATURDAY APRIL 25th, 11:00 am at the URI Soccer Complex. It will be the final contest of our non-traditional season and be followed by a BBQ for all alumni, families and friends of the program. We'll send you more information in the next month but if you know you are going to be there please RSVP to me with the number who will attend as well as t-shirt sizes (wives, kids and significant others are welcome). The rest of the spring schedule is as follows:

March 28
at Northeastern University - Boston, MA

April 4
at University of Massachusetts - Amherst, MA

April 8
at Bryant College - Smithfield, RI

April 15
at Holy Cross - Worcester, MA

April 18
at Maine Invite (Maine & Southern New Hampshire) - Cape Elizabeth, ME

April 25
Alumni Game (&BBQ) - Kingston, RI

If you are in the area we would love to see you at a game. If not then make your plans to join us at the ALUMNI GAME & BBQ whether you play or not. It is a fun event and a great time to get together and see old friends.

Before I sign off I want to publicly acknowledge Don & Nancy Hutson, Jesse Simmons '00, Ron Miner '74, Dan Pinto '78 and Tom Soule '63, for their recent donations to the program. I especially want to thank my long time high school friend Jim Brooks of Greenwich, CT for his generosity. Jim is a avid soccer fan who was a standout player at Connecticut College in New London, CT. He and his company Brand Partners (www.brandpartners.com) donated a color laser printer, DLS projector and 42" flat screen television which will be used for video review and for the players enjoyment in their lounge area of the men's soccer office suite. Jim has no attachment to the program except for through our over 25 year friendship for him to think of me and the program is special. He's a class guy and we're hoping that his daughter Kirsty, a high school senior, will select Kingston as her college town as she was recently accepted to URI.

That's about all there is to report for now. Drop us a line with any other news.

GO RAMS!
Coach O'C

December 5, 2008

Seasons Greetings & Happy Holidays from the URI Men's Soccer Office,

Things are beginning to wrap up here on campus with the final week of classes ending today, followed by reading period and exams coming up next week. It's hard to believe that we are only a few weeks away from the holiday break. Time does fly.

Over the past week, we've been meeting with the players individually and catching up on things from the end of the season. As you know it came to an abrupt end with the 3-2 loss to Dayton at the A-10 Championship. The awards season is now upon us and some of the players have already garnered some post season honors. Senior co-captain Kedan Crosby (St. James Trinidad), sophomore central defender Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) and freshmen forward Erkko Puranen (Viitisaari, Finland) were all named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference team. Erkko also earned a spot on the league's All-Rookie squad and the A-10 All-Championship team. The NSCAA All-Region team will be posted soon so we are confident that a couple of your guy's will get some recognition there as well.

If you were following MLS Soccer this fall, you would have seen our Rhody alums continuing to make an impact on the field and in life. On the veteran side, URI all-time leading scorer Andy Williams '98 (Kingston, Jamaica) completed his 10th season in the league with Real Salt Lake. We send our thoughts and prayers out to Andy's wife, Marcia, who is battling cancer. Her fight has been well-chronicled in the soccer world as her condition requires help with bone marrow transplants. Any support for Andy and his family is appreciated and you can get more information on how you can help by visiting the RSL website.

Elsewhere around the league, you may have also noticed some familiar names... Danleigh Borman '08 (Cape Town, South Africa) and his New York Red Bull teammates made a great run at the MLS Cup - unfortunately losing in the final to Columbus. Houston Dynamo's "Mr. Everything" Geoff Cameron (Attleboro, MA) was a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year after a stellar season for the two-time defending MLS Champions.

The big news of the fall was Lance Klima '89 being named to the University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame. An All-New England goalkeeper under URI legend Geza Henni, Lance was voted Atlantic 10 Player of the Year following his senior season. We are excited to see one of our own be inducted which will officially happen the weekend of February 13-14, as a part of URI's "Big Chill Weekend". You can click here to read more about the new Hall of Fame. We hope you will be able to attend and celebrate with Lance and the Rhody Soccer family. Congratulations Lance!

NEWS FLASH: We are tentatively scheduling our Annual Men's Soccer Team Banquet for Sunday, February 15th. to cap off the "Big Chill" weekend. More information and invitations to this always enjoyable event will follow. We hope you will be able to join us and make it a bigger than life event!

Whew, that was a mouthful.

Fortunately, there are still a lot of things on the horizon for URI soccer including the announcement of our new recruiting class this spring, the 2009 schedule - which includes five teams that participated in the 2008 NCAA Division I Tournament - and, most excitingly, our honor to host the 2009 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS on November 12-15 HERE AT THE URI SOCCER COMPLEX!

While this is exciting and will have a tremendous impact on our program, we continue to rely on our alumni and friends generosity to support the daily operations of our nationally-recognized and respected soccer program. In this season of giving you have the opportunity to make contributions which will directly impact the experience of our student-athletes. These funds will be used to supplement some of the most essential needs of the program would go towards things like supporting our 2nd assistant position, travel to out-of-region tournaments, state-of-the-art video equipment as well as training equipment and recruiting.

We realize in these tough economic times we all have to tighten our belts but WE NEED YOUR HELP! Not everyone can give at the same level but EVERYONE who has experienced and loves Rhody Soccer can give. For instance an annual donation of $500 is just $10 per week over the year...the cost of a cutting back on couple of Latte's from Starbucks. For those who are just out of school and on your own, a $100 annual donation amounts to just $2 per week in change from the tolls on the way from work. If you don't know where to start then begin with a basic $50 donation and add $10 for every year since your graduation or since you have been a fan of URI Soccer. This is what I do with my alma mater UMaine and I know it makes a difference.

Act today as it is almost that time of year to get all the last minute donations into gift processed in time for the IRS. You can make your donation on-line by clicking here. Credit card donations must be received for processing by the end of day on December 29, 2008 in order to count under this years IRS RULES.

As always, you can also send a check made payable to RIRAA - Men's Soccer to the address below.

Friends of URI Men's Soccer
Three Keaney Road, Suite One
Kingston, RI 02881

All gifts into the athletic department by January 8th will be processed by the Friday, January 9th 2009 deadline for 2008 tax purposes.

Our future is looking very bright, and with your help, we can move ahead towards our goal of another Atlantic 10 Championship and a trip deep into the NCAA Tournament like our A-10 rivals UMass Minutemen did in 2007!

We look forward to hearing from you soon and thank you in advance for your support.

Happy Holidays,
Coach O'C

November 18, 2008

The season came to an abrupt end Thursday night with a 3-2 loss to eventual Atlantic 10 Tournament Champion University of Dayton... I wish, for the boys, that it had continued longer. It was a heck of a game, very entertaining to watch as both teams fought for the prize of the championship and NCAA automatic bid. We just ended up on the short end of the stick.

The boys started the game very well - motivated, focused and organized. Their preparation paid off in the ninth minute when first-year forward Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) took a pass from his fourth-year striking partner Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) and got through the Dayton defense, scoring a classy bending goal around the Flyers' goalkeeper. The game would prove to be a teeter-totter affair as Dayton equalized at the 20 minute mark and then went ahead just before the half on a PK - after some confusion around the top of the box between one of the center backs and goalkeeper Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, KS) who was filling in for Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) who was still not at full strength with a hip injury.

At half-time we regrouped and sorted out our challenges, coming out of the locker room with great energy and passion. The momentum of the game moved back and forth and just when things seemed to settle down the Finnish Sniper struck again. This time after a cross by Matt Pryess (Chagrin Falls, OH) found Gary Crooks (Falkirk, Scotland) who fed it to Erkko, which has he has done 8 previous times, scored to tie the game at 2-2. But, as statistics in soccer have shown, the most dangerous times are the 5 minutes after a scored or conceded goal. This proved true as just 31 seconds later after a dubious foul call, A-10 Tournament MVP Florian DeCamps - the Flyers 6'5" forward - got his head on a ball served in the box, breaking the stalemate again. The guy's did not give up and had the run of play in the last 20 minutes getting good chances from Greg Balicki (Wilbraham, MA), Reece Markman (Dallas, TX) and Andres Ruiz (Providence , RI) which were saved or just missed. It was not until a shot over the bar with 10 seconds to go that the game did not seem winnable. But, it was not to be.

Disappointed, yes... proud, yes sir! You would have been very happy of how hard the team played, in true Rhody style. Even in loss, there are a lot of great things to take out of the season. Our goal was always to make the A-10 tournament, which we accomplished. We found a bon-a-fide scorer to follow in the footsteps of great URI snipers such as Mercurio, McCrudden, Williams, McCreath, Crocker, Collis, Elliott, Henni, Gotsmanov and Gonsalves in freshmen Erkko Puranen, who was voted a member of the 2008 Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team. He will only get better with time. Our young players got tremendous experience and most importantly the team represented URI the way we all wanted, with class and dignity even in defeat.

As we move into the holidays and the off-season we say good-bye to seniors Kedan Crosby, Kevin Hamill (Easton, CT), Andres Perdomo (Pawtucket, RI) and James Quiah (Providence, RI). I can't say enough about them and the different roles they each played in the success of the program this season and during their careers. We are excited about next season's incoming class, which is ready to follow in the shadows of the Class of 2009. You'll get to know more about them soon but trust that they will look good in Rhody Blue!

Well, that is about it for now. Here is wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll be in touch after the holiday about the team banquet in January as well as to update you on all the URI news.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON!

GO RHODY!
Coach O'C

November 10, 2008

Well, I promised more details on a weekend that was filled with ups and downs. Luckily the downs were sandwiched by the ups. We had an exciting overtime win on Friday, a disappointing loss on Sunday and then found out that we had secured the 6th seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament following the game so we were up again. I have to say we are thankful as we got a little help with the A-10's from some other teams and results but with that said we are glad to be able to keep playing!

Going into the weekend, we knew that we held our fate in our hands as two wins would guarantee us a spot. But this would be a tall task as coming to town were two very good teams in the form of Charlotte and Saint Louis.

On Friday, Charlotte came to town looking to secure its own place in the A-10 tournament. For those who were there, the game was an exciting one - an epic battle. We started the game out very well, seemingly catching the 49ers with a little jet lag or maybe adjusting to the long and wet grass of the northeast fall. Either way the guy's were buzzing and their hard work paid off when Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) got behind the Charlotte defense and drove a ball back across the box were Andres Perdomo (Pawtucket, R.I.) connected for his first goal of the year. The 49ers came back and equalized with a header that just eluded the fingertips of goalkeeper Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, Kansas) who was filling in for regular starter Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) who was injured in training the day before.

We went into the half tied 1-1 but we came out with a flurry. In the second stanza, we came out firing but the game stayed that way through regulation. Charlotte had some good looks at the goal but was kept off the board thanks to some timely saves by Peyton Warwick. In the second overtime, our chance came when after a cross by Domenic Petrarca (Providence, R.I.) was cleared, freshmen midfielder Reece Markman (Dallas, Texas) collected the ball and drove a ball across the box where Kedan Crosby calmly let the ball run through his legs and healed it under the 49ers goalkeeper for the win. We had done our job for the night but we still had some important business ahead of us.

On Saturday, we had a light workout and a swim to loosen up the muscles from our seventh overtime game of the year. Saint Louis, who was coming to town on Sunday for the final regular season game of the year, had just had their own overtime game at UMass, that they lost 2-1. So, SLU had their backs against the wall too as a loss to us meant that they could be out of the A-10 tournament for the first time since they joined the league. It made for a very interesting storyline...

Sunday was a bright and beautiful day as we honored our four seniors prior to the beginning of the match. Kedan Crosby, Kevin Hamill (Easton, Conn.), Andres Perdomo and James Quiah (Providence, R.I.) were all playing their last regular season home games at the URI Soccer Complex. As always, it is a pretty emotional day for me but the boys were ready to get the game going.

However, if we had known what the outcome was going to be beforehand, we might not have been as eager to start. A good Saint Louis team dominated us from start to finish scoring 4 of their 5 goals on re-starts. To be on the short end of a 5-0 score on Senior Day was definitely not what we wanted but our disappointment soon turned to elation as we discovered through Assistant Sport Communications Director Jodi Pontbriand that a 1-0 Charlotte loss to UMass coupled with the 2-1 upset of George Washington by St. Bonaventure had given us the 6th seed in the A-10 Tournament. We had another chance to keep playing and prove to ourselves that Sunday's performance was not a reflection of the capabilities of the this team.

Now we are preparing to head off to Pittsburgh, Pa. where Duquesne University is hosting this years' tournament. We will face 3rd seeded Dayton which looked to be the run away winner of the regular season title, until late losses to Temple and Xavier spoiled it for them. They are a talented team which we beat in the regular season in 2007 on a spectacular flying side volley by Red Bull New York player Danleigh Borman '08 with about 3 minutes to go. We have our work cut out for us but we are excited to have the opportunity to compete for the A-10 Tournament title again.

Before I sign off, congratulations goes out to both Geoff Cameron and Danleigh Borman who have been working towards an MLS Championship. Geoff was recently named one of the three finalists for Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year. Danleigh's NY Red Bulls and Geoff's Houston Dynamo also played against each other in the first round of the playoffs with the Red Bull upsetting the two-time defending champs 4-1 on aggregate. Geoff is also up for Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Year... CLICK HERE to vote for him!

In one of the other MLS quarterfinal, former URI Ram and all-time leader in points Andy Williams came on as a substitute in the 80th minute for Real Salt Lake to help them secure a spot in the semi-finals.

Well, that's about it from here. Keep an eye out for the results through www.gorhody.com and if you are in or around Pittsburgh we would love to see you come out and support the team!

GO RAMS!
Coach O'C

November 3, 2008

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!

October 27, 2008

Sorry that this will be a short one today... Its one of our only full days rest in a while and I am off to do some errands this morning and then take the kids to get their pumpkins for Halloween after school. This past weekend when we had the guys over for pre-game brunch, my kids Megan and Michael were excitedly telling all the players what they would be for "All Hallows Eve". Megan is going as Jesse the cowgirl from the Disney movie Toy Story II and Michael (of course) will be a POWER RANGER!... The red one. Unfortunately, we will be in NY for Halloween but by the looks of the "bed head" some of the guys had on Sunday morning, they won't have to bring along a fright wig to scare anyone... that was scary enough!

Well, it wasn't the weekend we were hoping for but we came away from it with some important A-10 points... just not as many as we had hoped. We ended up tying 1-1 and 2-2 to George Washington and Richmond, respectively - our fifth and sixth overtime games of the season. Tying is always better than losing of course but it is a little disappointing considering we had chances to win in both games.

As tough as that is, its all we could ask of the guys and I'm proud of them for it. To be able to play that many extra periods takes a special bunch of players with the mental and physical toughness to get through it. We can attribute the latter to Director of Soccer Operations Frank Bergren who has them fit as a fiddle with "just 15 minutes". The former is a tribute to the competitiveness of the squad. The work hard every day in training, pushing themselves and their teammates to be better.

The league itself has been quite a strange one this season with Dayton being the only team to separate itself from the rest of the pack to date. If you look at the standings, it is still wide open for berths in the A-10 tournament - which is hosted by Duquesne the weekend of November 12-16. These weekends become more and more important to us and I am confident that we will rise to the occasion and be one of the top 6 by season's end. The greatest thing is that we have something to play for and that is incentive enough for player's as competitive as ours.

Freshman Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) had quiet a weekend after missing last Sunday at St. Bonaventure following a very curious ejection in the Duquesne game. He was VERY dangerous on Friday night, having a breakaway saved and just missing another point blank shot. He continued his work rate on Sunday and it paid off when he scored twice versus Richmond. He is a dynamite kid - both on an off the field - and I have been increasingly impressed with his progress. I look forward to what the future brings for him in Rhody Blue!

This weekend we hit the road for games at Fordham in the Bronx and La Salle in Philadelphia. Both should be great matches and we hope that all those alums and friends in the New York and Philly area will come out and see the guy's play. If you're not close, you can follow all the action thru Gametracher on www.gorhody.com.

Before I sign off, our friend Jodi Pontbriand from URI Sports Communications sent me this nice article on Danleigh Borman '08 concerning his career with New York Red Bull.

Both he and classmate Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo) continue to do well as does Lukasz Tumicz in his native Poland.

GO RAMS!
Coach O'C

October 20, 2008

For all of you who were on campus this past weekend for Homecoming 2008, we're sorry we missed you. Unfortunately, we were away for two important Atlantic 10 Conference games at Duquesne and St. Bonaventure. We hope all of you were in town for the festivities had a great time visiting with your friends, classmates and former Rhody teammates. It was fun to be around that atmosphere last year and we look forward to being in Kingston in the future.

The first leg of the doubleheader weekend was an exciting one... maybe more than we wanted but with the help of our international connection and a key goal in extra time, the team earned at Duquesne 3-2 which is always tough. The Dukes will host the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championships in November so it was nice to get familiar with the surface and environment.

The game itself was a tale of two halves, the first being a defensive struggle between the two sides with each team getting good chances. Duquesne's came VERY early in the first 45 minutes when one of their forwards slipped behind our defense an got off a quick shot that was destined to score. But, junior captain and goalkeeper Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) shot off his line and down to his right to snare a sure goal.

The game stayed at a stalemate going into the intermission but our boys came out of the gate on fire, determined to grab the lead and a victory. After a Duquesne foul in the attacking third, senior captain Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) alertly played a quick free kick to our Finnish striker Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) who burst behind the Dukes' defense and in on the goal to collect his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Kedan would later push the lead to 2-0 as he collected his own unassisted goal. The 2-0 advantage felt good but as those involved in the game will tell you, this score is often the most dangerous. And that it was...

After this time, the game took on a completely different look when Erkko - while trying to get through on goal for his second of the day - was fouled and ended up being sent off by the official. The reason was a mystery to us, since there was no fight or altercation, but we had to deal with it. Not surprisingly, that one decision changed everything, turning the game into what resembled a street fight at times. With 6 minutes left on the clock, the Dukes scored to make it a 2-1 game and again in the final minute (actually with just 14 seconds to go) got the equalizer. What a turn-around! It again shows why the 2-0 lead is the most dangerous.

Going into overtime we refocused, knowing that this was going to test our players' character and resolve. We had been in this position before and I reminded them that character was not about the size of their biceps but making the right decisions and doing the right things during moments when it is hard to do so.

It did not take long for Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) to change early into his Halloween costume in the form of a Superman cape and "bock" (Jamaican slang for heading the ball) a corner into the back of the net for the game winner. This was Dwayne's 3rd game-winning goal of the season which he credits all to the service of Gary Crooks (Falkirk, Scotland) which has been superb.

I commend the guys for showing their character and determination and finding a way to finish the game off.

The trip up to St. Bonaventure from Pittsburgh started off as an interesting one. We chartered a bus up to Olean, NY from the Steel City but did not expect what we got for our transportation. Upon gathering in the lobby for departure we met our bus driver who had arrived the day before from CANADA in his "chariot" (as he called it) that was a 28 passenger Niagara Falls Tour bus. It was not what we had ordered but after some phone calls to the bus company with some rather poignant words from assistant coach Mitch Stone, we none the less departed and got a tour of the beautiful Allegheny National Forest along the way. It was a great day to take a ride but took a little longer then expected as our chariot struggled a bit going up the mountains at times. We arrived in Olean, trained, had a nice meal and retired to our rooms to catch the Red Sox win game 6 of the ALCS.

The next day, we prepared for the second game of the weekend but unfortunately we didn't fair as well as Friday. St. Bonnies was in crisis mode to stay alive in the hunt for a place in the Atlantic 10 tournament and came out with a lot of energy. We played ok in the first half which ended 0-0 but a strike from about 30 yards out that hit the underside of cross bar and bounced down found it's way in the net in the second half.

The guys worked to get the goal back, but in the end could not find that one good chance to equalize and give us a chance to win. It was not for lack of trying! We just seemed a little flat and I've been racking my brain to figure out why. I told the players that it was as great opportunity to put us in a position to secure an early spot in the A-10 tournament, but unfortunately, we were unable to convert on the day.

This week we will prepare for our first home A-10 doubleheader weekend when George Washington and Richmond come to Kingston. I am confident the boys will rebound from the disappointing weekend in Olean and get back on track. It will be a dog fight in the league and we need to make sure we show our teeth and keep the other hounds at bay.

Before I sign off, I need to send along public congratulations to former Ram Michael Bradley '97 and Grandpa Ed Bradley on the birth of Brooke Neumann Bradley born Sunday October 19th at 4:28am, weighing 7lbs 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long. Another little Rhody Ram in the stable...

GO RAMS!
Coach O'C