Men's soccer drops game to St. Louis
Joe Roberto
Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Sports
11/18/09 - The University of Rhode Island men's soccer team entered the Atlantic-10 Championship tournament as the No. 4 seed, and after it passed No. 5 ranked University of North Carolina at Charlotte in a dramatic shootout win, they lost to No. 2 ranked St. Louis University, 3-2.
For next season, URI Head Coach John O'Connor said he feels that the team has to get off to a better start and improve on wide play.
"We are going to lose some key players, which included three starters so the off-season is going to be crucial for us as far as developing our young talent," O'Connor said.
On Friday's matchup, St. Louis scored first early when junior Stephen Bortolon took a pass from sophomore Mike Roach and snuck it past senior Chris Pennock at the 9:56 mark.
The Rams rallied back when senior defenseman Domenic Petrarca provided the equalizer in the 32nd minute. It was Petrarca's first goal of the season and it came at a crucial time.
St. Louis fought back to get the ahead goal in the 65th minute when Roach put a straight-on shot right past Pennock.
After Roach's goal, the Rams would tie the game yet again when sophomore Erkko Puranen got a pass from senior Gary Crooks and scored in the 65th minute.
St. Louis would have the last goal in the game and the eventual game-winner when in the 87th minute, senior Tim Ream helped his team advance into the Atlantic-10 Championship.
"It was an evenly matched game and in the end it took a special goal to win it. We had two chances in the last two minutes to equalize but it just wasn't meant to be. "Chris Pennock was outstanding on the weekend as well as on [Friday]," O'Connor said.
"We got a great goal out of Erkko Puranen on a tremendous run and pass from Gary Crooks," O'Connor added. "Erkko also got an assist on the first goal when he flicked an Andres Ruiz cross to Dom Petrarca. SLU is a very good team who we respect and enjoy competing against."
For the match, SLU outshot Rhode Island 14-10, but the Rams had the advantage in shots on-goal with an eight to six edge.
The Billikens goaltender senior Ross Kaufman finished with six saves, while his counterpart Pennock finished with two saves.
"We are seeing what the team can do after a great experience like this year," O'Connor said. The players and our staff know we could have been in the A-10 final and, with some luck, won it. The returning players, who are that much more experienced, combined with what we think will be an outstanding recruiting class should put us in a great position."
St. Louis improved to 13-6 on the season, while Rhode Island finished the 2009 season with a 9-9-2 record.
For next season, URI Head Coach John O'Connor said he feels that the team has to get off to a better start and improve on wide play.
"We are going to lose some key players, which included three starters so the off-season is going to be crucial for us as far as developing our young talent," O'Connor said.
On Friday's matchup, St. Louis scored first early when junior Stephen Bortolon took a pass from sophomore Mike Roach and snuck it past senior Chris Pennock at the 9:56 mark.
The Rams rallied back when senior defenseman Domenic Petrarca provided the equalizer in the 32nd minute. It was Petrarca's first goal of the season and it came at a crucial time.
St. Louis fought back to get the ahead goal in the 65th minute when Roach put a straight-on shot right past Pennock.
After Roach's goal, the Rams would tie the game yet again when sophomore Erkko Puranen got a pass from senior Gary Crooks and scored in the 65th minute.
St. Louis would have the last goal in the game and the eventual game-winner when in the 87th minute, senior Tim Ream helped his team advance into the Atlantic-10 Championship.
"It was an evenly matched game and in the end it took a special goal to win it. We had two chances in the last two minutes to equalize but it just wasn't meant to be. "Chris Pennock was outstanding on the weekend as well as on [Friday]," O'Connor said.
"We got a great goal out of Erkko Puranen on a tremendous run and pass from Gary Crooks," O'Connor added. "Erkko also got an assist on the first goal when he flicked an Andres Ruiz cross to Dom Petrarca. SLU is a very good team who we respect and enjoy competing against."
For the match, SLU outshot Rhode Island 14-10, but the Rams had the advantage in shots on-goal with an eight to six edge.
The Billikens goaltender senior Ross Kaufman finished with six saves, while his counterpart Pennock finished with two saves.
"We are seeing what the team can do after a great experience like this year," O'Connor said. The players and our staff know we could have been in the A-10 final and, with some luck, won it. The returning players, who are that much more experienced, combined with what we think will be an outstanding recruiting class should put us in a great position."
St. Louis improved to 13-6 on the season, while Rhode Island finished the 2009 season with a 9-9-2 record.
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