Spring Break
URI men's soccer places second in the UNH Nike Classic
Kayla Panu
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Sports
09/04/08 - While most students were packing and moving to school last weekend, the University of Rhode Island men's soccer kicked off its fall season at the University of New Hampshire.
Rhody competed in the 19th Annual UNH Nike Classic and placed second out of four schools. The Rams defeated Maine 2-1 last Friday but fell to New Hampshire 2-0 on Sunday. The UNH Wildcats took first, while Maine was third. Adelphi University was last in fourth place.
"I thought, in general, we did well," head coach John O'Connor said. "We were disappointed on Sunday but Maine was a good game. We came from behind."
On Friday, Maine scored the first goal against URI junior goalkeeper Chris Pennock to take the early lead. Sophomore Josh Sousa scored the equalizer when he headed the ball into the goal off of sophomore Greg Balicki. The game stayed tied until sophomore Dwayne Williams scored his first collegiate goal in the 73rd minute of the game to take the first win of the season.
Pennock had a big save when the game was tied 1-1, O'Connor said.
The second game the Rams played was not as successful. They took the 2-0 loss from the Wildcats.
"We made changes and our attack was much more aggressive," O'Connor said.
Twenty-two minutes into the game, Sousa missed his shot and the Wildcats capitalized by scoring seven minutes later from a free kick 45 yards away to take the 1-0 lead.
"We generated chances but they [UNH] had a couple of good saves," O'Connor said. "It was a game we could have had but we learned a lot from it."
With 43 seconds left, UNH capped off the victory with another goal to take the 2-0 win.
O'Connor said that he felt like his team was in the game the whole way until the last 30 seconds. "Kedan Crosby was everywhere and was the standard for us," he said.
The Rams played 17 players against UNH showing their new depth. They lost nine players from last year but replaced them with six new freshmen and three transfer students. Two of the three transfer students are from Scotland, juniors Gary Crooks and Kevin Shaw.
Rhody competed in the 19th Annual UNH Nike Classic and placed second out of four schools. The Rams defeated Maine 2-1 last Friday but fell to New Hampshire 2-0 on Sunday. The UNH Wildcats took first, while Maine was third. Adelphi University was last in fourth place.
"I thought, in general, we did well," head coach John O'Connor said. "We were disappointed on Sunday but Maine was a good game. We came from behind."
On Friday, Maine scored the first goal against URI junior goalkeeper Chris Pennock to take the early lead. Sophomore Josh Sousa scored the equalizer when he headed the ball into the goal off of sophomore Greg Balicki. The game stayed tied until sophomore Dwayne Williams scored his first collegiate goal in the 73rd minute of the game to take the first win of the season.
Pennock had a big save when the game was tied 1-1, O'Connor said.
The second game the Rams played was not as successful. They took the 2-0 loss from the Wildcats.
"We made changes and our attack was much more aggressive," O'Connor said.
Twenty-two minutes into the game, Sousa missed his shot and the Wildcats capitalized by scoring seven minutes later from a free kick 45 yards away to take the 1-0 lead.
"We generated chances but they [UNH] had a couple of good saves," O'Connor said. "It was a game we could have had but we learned a lot from it."
With 43 seconds left, UNH capped off the victory with another goal to take the 2-0 win.
O'Connor said that he felt like his team was in the game the whole way until the last 30 seconds. "Kedan Crosby was everywhere and was the standard for us," he said.
The Rams played 17 players against UNH showing their new depth. They lost nine players from last year but replaced them with six new freshmen and three transfer students. Two of the three transfer students are from Scotland, juniors Gary Crooks and Kevin Shaw.
