CATCHING UP.......

Apologies to those of you that rely on the blog as a source of information - a few extra assignments have led to a back-log and the blog has suffered...... sorry blog.... :(

So, to catch up...... since Cornell our season has hit a low point then rebounded in spectacular style. First there was the Penn game - the less said about this 1-0 reverse, the better. We still cannot believe we came out of this contest on the wrong side of the result. Like any one-off loss, we'll just have to confine this match to the trash and move on...

Yale are "Popped...." Yale 1-2 Brown
The only high point of the Penn contest was the cameo performance of TJ "Pop" Popolizio. He came on late in the first-half, brought great energy to the team, and perhaps came closest to turning the game in our favor. Such was his impact that he was given the nod for a starting berth when we traveled to New Haven on November 7th..... The boys knew that they had under-performed in their last match and knew that something had to be done about it. Although it was never talked about, this was a "must-win" game. Preparations all week had been intense and thorough - the team had no doubts about what was expected.
The contest got off to the worst possible start on what was Yale Senior night. Within minutes we had conceded a poor goal after the home winger had been given too much space on the left side. Grandstrand was helpless and it was 1-0 Bad Guys.
This was the jolt that our team needed and for the next 42+ minutes the visiting Bears took the game to the hosts. It was no surprise when, late in the half, a five-man passing move led to the equalizer - a diving header of epic proportions by that man Pop! The build up play for the goal was a masterpiece of football and the finish typified the bravery of our diminutive striker...
The half-time break was the only method that Yale had to break our momentum. For a while the second period it looked as if the home team might just squeeze their way back into the contest, despite these Brown Bears playing a far superior brand of football.
With ten minutes left the home 'keeper flapped at a cross and the ball was quickly played back into the Yale box by Jonny. Despite the ball being played behind him that-man Pop contorted his body and kept the ball alive as T-Mac stode in to drive the ball into the Yale net. 2-1 Brown! the on-field celebration that followed was hilarious..... bettered only by the off-field celebration that took place in the locker room afterwards!
With less than ten minutes left our boys were too savvy and too experience to allow a solid yet unimaginative home team back into the match. Despite some desperate balls played into our box, our boys came out victorious and very much relieved. They had bounced back from adversity in exactly the way they had been expected to. With the final match at home versus Dartmouth on the horizon it was all to play for in search of the NCAA berth and possible Ivy title....