Spring Break
Men's soccer ties twice in weekend games, 1-1, 2-2
Jim Thayer
Issue date: 10/28/08 Section: Sports
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In Friday's game, the Rams trailed almost the entire first half. At the 8:27 mark in the first half, George Washington's Dave Leon passed to Erick Perez-Segnini who then scored. Rhode Island applied pressure the entire half, outshooting George Washington 9-4, and in the 20th minute, almost tied the game when senior Kevin Hamill fired a shot that GW goalkeeper Matt Scheer stopped.
Freshman Erkko Puranen found the rebound, but sent it over the crossbar. The Rams almost scored again four minutes later, but another great save by Scheer blocked the Rams. The score would remain 1-0 GW until the very last second of the half, when URI senior Kedan Crosby scored his third goal of the season off the assist from senior Andres Perdomo.
As the second half started, Rhode Island continued to apply pressure to GW. Puranen set up sophomore Michael Tanke with a pass right to center, but Tanke's shot went a bit too high, sailing over the crossbar. The Rams continued to apply pressure, but GW did not roll over for them.
Junior Chris Pennock did a great job keeping the game tied. A diving save robbed Perez-Segnini a second goal of the game, and prevented GW from taking the lead in the 76th minute. Pennock would make two more saves in regulation, and two more in overtime, keeping the game tied at 1.
Coach John O'Conner after the game felt that "Chris really was the difference for us tonight."
"He made a couple of absolutely incredible saves out there and really kept us in the game," O'Conner said.
The Rams then played Richmond on Sunday. After Friday's tie, Rhode Island was looking to come out strong against Richmond, who is now 2-10-3 overall, and 1-2-3 in conference games. The Rams definitely did come out strong, and appeared to control the ball for most of the first half.
Richmond seemed to be a little timid in the first half, and Rhode Island took advantage of it. In the 19th minute of play, Puranen tore down field on a breakaway. A little slip by Richmond's Brennan Lincoln left Puranen alone with goalkeeper Brock Tomlinson. Puranen got around Tomlinson, and gave Rhode Island the lead at 1-0.
