2008 Woodie Awards
Men's soccer clinch first round bye in A-10 Tourney
Matt Pavao
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Sports
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11/14/07 - The University of Rhode Island men's soccer team can put its feet up and enjoy the Ohio scenery during the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament this weekend.
With victories last weekend over Temple universities and St. Joseph's universities, the team clinched a first round bye as the second seed in the tournament.
"[Getting a bye] was our main goal all season," head coach John O'Connor said. "It allows you to avoid playing three games and it just gives you more time. Those three games can be tiring."
The Rams' 7-1-1 conference record was the second best, behind only St. Louis, and was made possible thanks to a five game winning streak to close out the season. The winning record is a sentiment to the resolve of the team after Rhode Island lost six of its first seven games.
The losses did put pressure on the team but its confidence was restored through the wins.
"I wouldn't say that we lost confidence, but you could tell that there was some questioning of themselves [early in the season]," O'Connor said. "Now there is a feeling that we know that we can do this. The confidence level is high."
The early struggles hurt the team's chances at getting an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament but O'Connor sees some positives in the extra motivation for the conference tournament.
"Since we didn't do well to start, now they have an incentive because they need to win [the A-10 Tournament] to get into the NCAA Tournament where a team like St. Louis doesn't," O'Connor said. "In a weird way it sets us up better for the tournament."
With the team back to its usual winning ways, Rhody has its eyes set squarely on a championship.
"The expectations with all of the guys is to win it," O'Connor said. "They have the experience with veteran players and anything but winning it would not make the guys feel good. If we don't win then it will be a disappointment."
Rhode Island defeated Temple 2-0 Friday night and took down St. Joseph's 4-2 Sunday. Senior Lukasz Tumicz, who was recently named A-10 Player of the Week, and junior Kedan Crosby, each scored two goals during the weekend and seniors Geoffrey Cameron and Callum Bissett added one each.
The University of North Carolina Charlotte and Fordham University will face off Thursday and the winner will play the Rams Friday. If the Rams win they will then play in the finals Sunday. The Rams tied Charlotte 1-1 in a double overtime game in October and defeated Fordham 1-0 two weeks ago.
With victories last weekend over Temple universities and St. Joseph's universities, the team clinched a first round bye as the second seed in the tournament.
"[Getting a bye] was our main goal all season," head coach John O'Connor said. "It allows you to avoid playing three games and it just gives you more time. Those three games can be tiring."
The Rams' 7-1-1 conference record was the second best, behind only St. Louis, and was made possible thanks to a five game winning streak to close out the season. The winning record is a sentiment to the resolve of the team after Rhode Island lost six of its first seven games.
The losses did put pressure on the team but its confidence was restored through the wins.
"I wouldn't say that we lost confidence, but you could tell that there was some questioning of themselves [early in the season]," O'Connor said. "Now there is a feeling that we know that we can do this. The confidence level is high."
The early struggles hurt the team's chances at getting an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament but O'Connor sees some positives in the extra motivation for the conference tournament.
"Since we didn't do well to start, now they have an incentive because they need to win [the A-10 Tournament] to get into the NCAA Tournament where a team like St. Louis doesn't," O'Connor said. "In a weird way it sets us up better for the tournament."
With the team back to its usual winning ways, Rhody has its eyes set squarely on a championship.
"The expectations with all of the guys is to win it," O'Connor said. "They have the experience with veteran players and anything but winning it would not make the guys feel good. If we don't win then it will be a disappointment."
Rhode Island defeated Temple 2-0 Friday night and took down St. Joseph's 4-2 Sunday. Senior Lukasz Tumicz, who was recently named A-10 Player of the Week, and junior Kedan Crosby, each scored two goals during the weekend and seniors Geoffrey Cameron and Callum Bissett added one each.
The University of North Carolina Charlotte and Fordham University will face off Thursday and the winner will play the Rams Friday. If the Rams win they will then play in the finals Sunday. The Rams tied Charlotte 1-1 in a double overtime game in October and defeated Fordham 1-0 two weeks ago.