April 10, 2009

The week is at and end and it was a busy one. We had three matches this week which made it for a short one. Last weekend we were up to UMass for their spring invitational. We arrived in Amherst a little short in personnel as we still had goalkeepers Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England), Anthony Tavares (E. Proivdence, RI), midfielder Josh Gonsalves (Markham, Ontario), who is back practicing after his ACL surgery, nursing previous injuries as well as Michael Tanke (Niles, MI) and Dom Petrarca (Providence, RI) who were now part of the walking wounded. Add to that Franco LoPresti (Whitby, Ontario) who was feeling under the weather and we had a very small bench. But, like any good team we used the weekend well, earning a 1-0 win over Army on a Gary Crooks (Falkirk, Scotland) goal, assisted by Andres Ruiz (Providence, RI) as well as a 0-0 draw with the host in a classic A-10 battle. The weather was quite windy and cold and the UM practice field bumpy (which some say they planned...LOL) but I was happy in the end with how we handled it all.

ARMY LINE-UP: Warwick, McCormick, Williams, Hutson, Zane, Crooks, Shaw, Ruiz, Markman, Balicki, (Sousa), Puranen (Pereira)

UMASS LINE-UP: Warwick, McCormick (Zane), Zane (Hutson), Williams, Preyss, Markman (Sousa), Shaw, Ruiz (Crooks), Pereira, Balicki, Puranen (Pereira).

Training was light for Monday and Tuesday as we headed in Bryant College on Wednesday night for a 7:00 pm tilt on their field turf. We were nearly back to full strength (minus Dom Petrarca and Anthony Tavares who should be back next week) so it was be a good chance to see the nearly the whole squad operating. The pace of the game was a little crazy in the first of three 30 minute periods and we were spared relinquishing a goal only by a fantastic diving stop by Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, KS) down to his right. The field was long (120 yards) but narrow (65 yards) but the guy's adjusted and managed to get on track in latter parts of that period getting goals in quick succession. The first on a nifty back heel assist from Michael Tanke to Andres Ruiz on a one touch finish after Michael beat a player in the box. The second started from a Kevin Shaw (Denny, Scotland) corner to the back post where Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) headed it across to Errko Puranen (Viitassari, Finland) who nodded it in. It was great for Erkko as his parents and 3 sisters were here in the states visiting for the week. We almost got a third when Ruiz was through on a breakaway and just barely missed chipping it over a sliding Bryant goalkeeper.

The game the rest of the way was a bit of a pin pong match but the squad got good chances out of Jonathan Pereira (Barrington, RI), Reece Markman (Dallas, TX) as well as Greg Balicki (Wilbraham, MA). In the final 15 minutes of the game Josh Gonsalves got on for his first action in Rhody Blue after being cleared for full contact a few days earlier. He has a bit of catching up to do but it was nice to have the big man on the field.

BRYANT LINE-UP: Warwick, LoPresti, Williams, Hutson, Zane, Tanke (Markman), Crooks (Preyss), Shaw, Ruiz (Crooks, Gonsalves), Balicki (Sousa), Puranen (Pereira)

Don't forget to RSVP about the ANNUAL ALUMNI GAME on SATURDAY APRIL 25th at 11:00 am at the URI Soccer Complex. Following the game their will be a BBQ which is FREE for all alumni and $10 per person for friends and family. Donations to help cover the cost of the t-shirts and food are always welcome. Please RSVP with your t-shirt size and that you are coming (as well as significant others in attendance) so we have enough food. The t-shirt size ordering deadline is Friday April 17th. After that there is no guarantee for the correct size or a shirt so make sure you let me know...

I am proud to say during this Easter season we are ecstatic to announce that the team recently raised $1,000 in our winter "Juggle-a-thon" of which ALL proceeds will be donated towards a fund to help URI's all-time leading scorer Andy Williams '98 (Kingston, Jamaica) wife's Marcia fight with cancer. As many of you know already Marcia is in need of a bone marrow transplant and we just hope that this small gesture will help. Our thoughts and prayers are with Andy and we invite you to again join us in supporting their fight. You can get more information on how you can donate by visiting the RSL website.

As we head into the final two weeks of the spring season we are looking forward to our last three games. First, this Wednesday April 15th in Worcester, MA versus the Holy Cross Crusaders at 7:00 pm and then home in Kingston versus Southern New Hampshire at 2:00 pm on Saturday April 18th. The second match is a CHANGE as Maine had to cancel their invitation in Cape Elizabeth, ME due to lack of players from injury. We will then get plenty of rest in preparation for the MOST IMPORTANT GAME OF THE SPRING versus the alumni on the 25th to finish things up. We hope you can join us.

From my family and the URI soccer family we wish you all a Happy Easter!

GO RAMS!
Coach O'C