Goodbye, college soccer season…

It shouldn’t be this difficult.

It’s 10:21am on a November 8th morning, and I am in the very slow and deliberate process of peeling off the Rhode Island College men’s and women’s soccer schedules from my cubicle walls. Had I known how arduous an affair this was going to be, I would have avoided posting them on my walls back in late August.

Ok, so that’s a straight lie. I would have done it anyway. It would have been futile to prevent.

Anyone who knows me is aware that a good chunk of my life revolves around the fixture lists of soccer clubs. So it was an impossible proposition for me not to put these schedules on the small walls at work. However, it definitely wasn’t my intent to grow so attached to both clubs – especially the women’s side, after getting to know many of the players’ parents during the season.

These schedules afforded me many wonderful thoughts of escaping the office to the cozy confines of the RIC Soccer Field. In fact, each team’s first home match of the season was brightly highlighted in yellow marker, signifying its importance for me to set aside all else and make it there. The first match wasn’t the only ones classified as “important”, mind you. I can recall many a time where things at work were hectic, only to glance back at the schedules, side by side, and take comfort in knowing that either team was playing within the coming hours/days. The promise of sunny afternoons and cool late evenings kept my spirits high through the late-summer, early-autumn workweek and following Saturday afternoons.

I’ve purposely delayed this unhappy task. Both teams’ seasons ended last week, thus rendering these lists obsolete. But now, as I ceremoniously peel the tape off these magical fixtures that opened the door to my wonderful fixation with college soccer, I cannot help but release a sigh of sadness.

Goodbye, college soccer season.

Anchorwomen upset thwarted by controversial call; lose 3-2 to West Conn

Despite the heavy odds stacked against them, the fourth-seeded Rhode Island College Anchorwomen came within three minutes of a stunning upset of the top-seeded Western Connecticut State University Colonials in the Little East Conference semifinals before a controversial call sent the match into double-overtime, where RIC heartbreakingly succumbed to the 3-2 loss.

From the opening whistle, the Colonials controlled early on, as the Anchorwomen backline was tested with two shots by the tenth minute. Though the potent striking duo of Catherine Nathans (13 goals) and Kim Crayco (11 goals) challenged the guests, the burgundy and gold backline duly kept them at bay for much of the match.

Just as RIC had found its rhythm, West Conn sparked up a counterattack in the 38th minute when Nathans sprinted through the backline and went one on one with keeper Maddie Pirri before the junior striker calmly chipped it in, giving the her side the 1-0 lead.

Undaunted, RIC pressed on by controlling the midfield at length, menacing West Conn with a frenzy of crisp passes. With only two substitutes at his disposal, RIC coach Denis Chartier judiciously spelled his playmakers as much as possible in order to keep the attack energized.

RIC kicked off the second half by dominating possession early on, and it paid dividends less than ten minutes later when Chelsea Creamer hauled in a Krista MacKinnon pass inside the box and deftly chipped it into the corner of the net, tying the score at one apiece.

With a severely depleted bench, an added sense of urgency prevailed among the RIC players in order to keep the match from turning into a multiple OT marathon that they were ill-equipped to endure. Their fervent attack found paydirt in the 74th minute when the speedy Calenda raced down the right and into the box, and angled a perfect shot that sailed into the upper realm of the net, giving the lower-seed a stunning one-goal lead with just over fifteen minutes left in regulation.

Cautiously sitting atop the one-goal lead, the Anchorwomen refocused on the defending, and though the Colonials broke through on two occasions, defender Kerry Donahue boldly snuffed any hopes the home side had at equalizing going into the 80th minute.

As the final minutes of regulation waned, WestConn inserted fresh substitutes in the form of Domonique Poscascio and Victoria Capoziello, attempting to crack the RIC backline. RIC, on the brink of a major upset, stepped up by solidifying its defense, as the Colonials were continually stonewalled despite creating quality chances.

Then, in the 87th minute, controversy ensued when a corner kick was fortuitously granted to West Conn after it appeared that, in a battle for the ball near the right corner flag, the ball had last touched a Colonial player before skipping past the byline. Despite vehement protests by the Anchorwomen, the decision stood, and seconds later, Caitlin Boyle headed the Cassie Barbaresi outswinger right into the heart of the net, drawing the match even at two-all, and sending the game into overtime minutes later.

An exhausted Anchorwomen side bravely fended off the Colonials during the first overtime, but with less than six minutes remaining in the second OT, the Colonials lined up for another corner. After the kick was played short to Jessica Sperlazza, she then pushed it forward to Kim Crayco, who slipped it past Pirri point blank for the game-winner in the 107th minute, as West Conn squeaked by to clinch its second consecutive LEC Finals appearance.

Tuesday Rant

As I sit here looking out the office window at wonderful splashes of vivid oranges and reds, burnt browns, and bright yellows, I cannot believe that it’s October 23rd, and the college soccer season is nearing an end.

Prior to this season, I didn’t have much of an interest in the college game. As I was busy following the Revolution and Stingrays, the idea of college soccer hadn’t even been a passing thought. But after reading Gregg Easterbrook’s TMQ, and absorbing observations from small-college football teams, it inspired me to do the same, in terms of college soccer. Thus, a new window to the game was opened, and what a Ticonderoga-sized window that proved to be.

I sit here in the exact spot where I first took it upon myself to follow college soccer. I looked toward my two alma maters – RIC and CCRI – and hashed out which school and which squad (men’s or women’s) I’d choose as my primary candidate for additional soccer writing chores. I ended up choosing the RIC sides, but as the season wore on, the RIC Anchorwomen became “my” team.

There’s something in the collegiate game that is absent from pro soccer. A remarkable innocence of the game still resides on the pitches of colleges and universities. A wonderful sense of community prevails. The crowd energy is much different, though still spirited nonetheless, as the majority of them are parents and friends of the players before them. In other words, they literally love the players, and their enthusiasm is touchingly clear.

Tonight, the RIC Anchormen will face off against Amherst College in one of the final RIC home matches of the season. I cannot believe how quickly the season has transpired. It seems as if the RIC-St. John’s Fisher College back on a hot and muggy August 31st afternoon just took place. Now, as the leaves began to retreat from the trees, the number of visits to the RIC Soccer Field has dwindled down to three.

Forget the Sox in the World Series, or the Patriots rolling over the competition. The Rhode Island College soccer teams occupy the first priority slot in my universe right now.

Donahue, Hummel lead RIC to victory on Senior Day; clinch playoff berth

On a cool and overcast autumn afternoon, the Rhode Island College Anchorwomen warmed up the home crowd with a gritty 1-0 win over Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday.

The Anchorwomen, who also honored their seniors in a touching pre-match ceremony, were challenged by an ESCU squad that had entered the match riding an astonishing 465-minute streak of shutout soccer, and looked poised to extend the streak even further.

Early on, both clubs searched to establish the attack, as possession was fairly even after the first twenty minutes. The two-headed monster of Gina Calenda and Lindsay Laurie began to menace the Warrior backs halfway through the half as RIC began to tilt the possession scales in their favor.

With the scaffolding removed, the potent Anchorwomen attack began to elicit desperate measures from their opponents, and the Warriors were forced to foul in the 28th minute, setting up a free kick from about 35-yards. Appropriately enough on Senior Day, a pair of seniors hooked up on the a set piece strike when senior defender Kerry Donahue curled it perfectly toward a gaggle of white and blue jerseys up front before senior midfielder Abby Hummel thumped a header that lodged itself in the back of the net for the one-goal lead.

As the second half commenced, the proceedings began to get even chippier with both clubs trading jabs in the midfield. To his credit, referee Tony Reis refused to make himself a part of the game, as he allowed the players to simply play.

But as tempers began to flare near the hour mark, Reis did well to keep the match from becoming a multi-card UFC event after Kristina Haughey battled Melissa Roy for the ball near the right channel before Roy brought her down. But before Roy was booked, Haughey kicked back at the Warrior midfielder, to which Reis immediately rewarded with a red card, thus leaving the home side a player down with close to thirty minutes remaining.

Unfazed by the dismissal of their teammate, the Anchorwomen hunkered down on defense stood up a impressive Warrior attack that had scored seventeen goals in its previous five matches. Led by Donahue and Mallary Bileau, the backline became an impenetrable fortress, as the Anchorwomen held on for the win.

With the victory over their Little East Conference rivals, RIC clinched not only a playoff berth, but a home field playoff match either on October 30th or November 2nd.