Rhode Island men's soccer nets victory for Grassroot Soccer but Falls to Brown

By: Brandon Gearing

Posted: 9/23/08

09/23/08 - Clad in yellow Adidas game jerseys, the University of Rhode Island men's soccer team scored a victory for Grassroot Soccer, a global AIDS prevention organization by raising money and awareness for a cause close to the heart of head coach John O'Connor.

O'Connor has close ties with two of the founders - Methembe Ndlovu of Zimbabwe and Dr. Tommy Clark of New Hampshire. They are former soccer players from Dartmouth College, where O'Connor worked as an assistant coach from 1990-1995.

Senior co-captain Kedan Crosby presented the co-founder of Grassroot Soccer, Ethan Zohn, with a $1,000 donation on behalf of the URI soccer program. Zohn is well known as the winner of the popular TV show Survivor: Africa.

Unfortunately, the Rams were unable to repeat that same success in the contest with Brown as they fell 1-0.

Rhody dominated early, outshooting the Bears 11-3. Two of these shots came back-to-back in the 30th minute by sophomore Andres Ruiz, fresh off the hamstring injury that kept has kept him sidelined. Ruiz fired a shot nearly seven minutes later after an assist by freshman Erkko Puranen that brushed the side of the net for a miss.

None of the Rams' shots were able to find the net in the first half as it ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

Brown jumped on the board early in the second half as Rhett Bernstein headed a Darren Howerton flip throw into the back of the net. O'Connor cited the flip throw as the difference in the game.

"We had trouble defending the flip throw," said O'Connor. "It's a great tool and if we could execute it, we would use it too."

The Rhody men continued to fight as sophomore Josh Sousa and senior Kevin Hamill took shots that went just wide and the Bears' defense was able to block one shot by sophomore Dwayne Williams in the 68th minute as well as another by junior Gary Crooks in the game's final minute.

Brown goalkeeper Jarret Leech was only forced to face one shot on goal in the contest. The lone shot came off the foot of junior Domenic Petrarca in the 73rd minute.

"I'm about as happy as I can be with a loss," said O'Connor. "We showed lots of character and we played well despite the outcome."

O'Connor said that his young team has begun to form a strong framework and has great depth.

"We aren't quite settled yet," he said. "We had a veteran team last year and obviously this year that is not the case."

Despite the inexperience, the Rams have posted a 3-3-0 record thus far, compared to the 1-6-0 mark of last years' squad.

The Rams will compete in the UMass Invitational this weekend in Amherst, Massachusetts as they take on the University of Vermont on Friday and the University of Hartford on Sunday.

"We're facing two talented America East teams and they aren't just going to give it to us," said O'Connor. "If we work hard we can get it done."