Men's Soccer
Lindroos Leads Rhody Past UMass, 1-0
Oct. 24, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. - Rhode Island freshman Thomas Lindroos (Espoo, Finland) netted the lone goal of the game in a 1-0 victory over Massachusetts, Saturday afternoon at Rudd Field. The win marks Rhody's third in a row and improves the Rams' record to 6-7-1 (3-2-0). UMass, meanwhile, drops to 5-5-3 (2-3-0).
Lindroos - the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week - put the Rams ahead at the 12:34 mark when the found the back of the net for his second goal in as many games. Sophomore Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) got things started when he was tripped up while heading toward the UMass goal. On the restart, Puranen lifted the ball through the box, to the far post where junior Andres Ruiz (Providence, R.I.) redirected a centering pass to Lindroos, whose jumping header got past Chris Piekos and gave Rhody the early advantage.
URI's best chance at doubling its lead came in the 72nd minute when a shot by junior Michael Tanke (Niles, Mich.) deflected off the crossbar to keep it a 1-0 game.
Lindroos' goal would prove to be all the Rams needed though, as senior goalkeeper Chris Pennock (Spennymoor, England) turned away both shots he faced to earn his fourth shutout victory of the season.
As a team, Rhode Island outshot the Minutemen 13-8 while UMass held a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks - including two in the final four minutes of play.
The Rams are back in action next Friday, when they return to the URI Soccer Complex to host St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m.
