Rams Slaughtered

For the past fifteen years or so the annual match-up between our boys and the University of Rhode Island has been the marquee game in Rhode Island soccer calendar. Always a hard-fought and tightly contested affair, the game has significance not only in local bragging rights, but also an impact on the NCAA tournament aspirations of both teams.
The approach to this match was slightly unusual. For example, (Ray) Pat-Laughlin (Houghton) was on the staff at URI for a number of years during his nomadic travels around the New England soccer scene. Not only was Coach Laughlin's insight into URI soccer especially useful, but the fact that he was able to use his inside knowledge to get the bus within a few feet of the locker room also helped....
The field at URI was in fine shape - well when you consider that turf-management is an academic program of study on this campus surrounded by sod farms, then it really ought to be good!! As the players warmed up they had energy and focus, and they returned to the locker room for the pre-game chat looking ready to play. Ray Houghton was up first as he rallied the boys for the 90 minutes ahead. Then is was over to the boss; "it will be a one-goal game - guaranteed!" he bellowed. "It will probably go to overtime," he said with a look of intensity and fervour..... prophetic words from Coach Noonan??
The boys took about three-minutes to slice through the Rams defence for the first time. Surely they wouldn't provide gaps as wide as Narragnansett Bay in their back-four all afternoon, would they? Within minutes T-Mac cut in from the left and danced past three defenders as if they were standing still - his skill dazzled the crowd..... and Sean and Austin, who clearly didn't think he was going to put the ball on a plate for them inside the six yard box, so instead hung out about twenty yards away and applauded the effort!
The ease with which Brown players passed around and through this URI team was incredible. A continued assault on the home goal eventually led to a Brown corner. Walls swung the ball to the back post and up popped freshman left-back Dylan Remick to head the Bears into the lead. 1-0 Brown.....
Shell-shocked URI defenders were still settling down from the first goal when Sean Rosa slid a ball into the path of Evan Coleman at the top of the box and he duly dispatched a low drive into the bottom of the URI net. 2-0.
At this point the home team woke up a little and tried to exert a little physicality into the contest. A few rash challenges went in and it was clear to see that these sheep were rattled. As the game settled down some of the approach play by Brown made the neutral observer realize just why we call it the beautiful game....
The culmination of yet another great passage of play led to Brown's third goal. Okafor dispatched a text-book finish across the URI 'keeper into the far corner of the goal - with his LEFT foot!!! Just at that moment three little pigs flew across the URI campus. 3-0 Bears with ten minutes to go in the first half.
What do you say to a team that has a 3-0 half-time lead in their local derby? Well Coach Noonan found the right words to keep the boys motivated and the second half proceeded in much the same way as the first. Mandel and Rosa worked tirelessly to pressure the home sides' defence and the Elenz-Martin/Medairos combination controlled the middle of the park. Perhaps the best example of the spirit and ethic of the team was a forty yard run made by Mikey Manella - to pressure the URI left-back just ten yards from his own corner flag.
After the URI goalkeeper skewed a goal-kick out of play I turned to our in-house URI spy (Ray Houghton) and said, "Is that normal for him?" "Never," said Ray. Five minutes later the same player smashed a shanked goal-kick into the stomach of Austin, who gleefully ran twenty yards and drove the ball into the back of the URI goal. 4-0 Bears and 30 minutes to play.....
In an eerily similar turn of events to goals 1 and 2, URI conceded again within minutes. Mandel half-volleyed from 15 yards out to give the home 'keeper no chance.
Schlenker, Gavey, and Robertson all entered the fray for Brown and looked assured and comfortable. At no time in the second period did it look like a Brown back-four of McDuff, Walls, Remick and Coleman would be breached. Walls and Remick attacked on the flanks while Coleman and McDuff combined to win everything that needed to be won in the middle.
As a spectacle the game was over with twenty minutes left and quite a large portion of the crowd made their way out of the complex (most were wearing powder blue).
A quick glance at the scoreboard said all you needed to know about this performance. 5-0 in goals, 15-0 in shots on goal.

Next up for the boys is the west-coast trip with games at Santa Clara (Friday, 9/25 at 7pm) and San Francisco (Sunday, 9/27 at 2pm). FOR ALL OF YOU ALUMS AND FANS ON THE WEST COAST WE'D TRULY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT - PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SAY HI.....