What a great night of soccer! Two great matches in the URI/Sheraton Classic on a great night to play. If you were present at last nights games you would have seen come exciting soccer. In the first match Old Dominion University started out strong with a 2-0 lead at half-time against Harvard. They increased it to 3-0 and looked to be cruising but the Crimson were determined to show better than their Ivy League regulated 8 day pre-season allowed. They came storming back with 3 goals in the last 16 minutes to tie. But, with all that energy expended they lost focus in the last minute and a half, allowing ODU to get through and tally the game winner. ODU coach Alan Dawson looked concerned but relieved that it all worked out in the end.
In our game versus Villanova our first game of the URI/Sheraton Classic you would have seen a barn burner. It was a hard fought soccer at which unfortunately the boy's in blue could not find a goal to put the W on our side. After 110 minutes the match ended in a 0-0 draw.
We had a group of great performances with players stepping up their game and pitch in to help a depleted squad due to injury and suspension. Senior goalkeeper Mark Sauter (Columbus, OH) earned the first shutout of his career while classmates Joe Spofford (Waterville, ME), Steve Scalzo (Plymouth, MN) and B.J. Kochis (Naugatuck, CT) gave us a much needed lift off the bench. We had some great chances to score but the Villanova goalkeeper was sharp and made several game saving stops.
I can't say I'm not disappointed at not getting a more positive result but I am very happy with the effort and leadership shown by every player on the squad whether they were playing or not. The support shown to each other was something that can be the difference in the end. ODU is another great test tomorrow...another chance to move forward in the development of the team. It should be fun and we hope you be able to join us...
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