Men's Soccer
Men's Soccer Ties George Washington, 1-1
Oct. 25, 2008
KINGSTON, R.I. - Senior Kedan Crosby (St. James Trinidad) scored his third goal of the season with one second remaining in the first half as the Rhode Island men's soccer team played George Washington to a 1-1 double overtime draw, Friday night at the URI Soccer Complex. With the tie, the Rams move to 6-5-2 (2-1-1) on the season while GW's record goes to 6-4-3 (2-1-2).
The Colonials got things started early on, taking a 1-0 lead at the 8:27 mark when Erick Perez-Segnini found the back of the net on a centering pass from Dave Leon.
Rhody nearly evened the score in the 20th minute when senior Kevin Hamill (Easton, Conn.) blasted a shot that GW goalkeeper Matt Scheer stopped with quick reflexes before freshman Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) sent the rebound just over the crossbar. Puranen nearly scored again, four minutes later, on a breakaway feed from sophomore Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) but Scheer made another save to keep the Rams off the board.
URI continued to apply the pressure, outshooting GW 9-4 for the half and holding a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks. Rhody's aggressiveness finally paid off with the clock winding down as junior Domenic Petrarca (Providence, R.I.) carried the ball up the far side of the field and sent a long pass in to senior Andres Perdomo (Pawtucket, R.I.). With 00:04 remaining, Perdomo trapped the ball at the top of the box and quickly found Crosby who stuffed a shot past Scheer to knot the score at 1-1 with just one tick left on the clock.
Puranen continued to lead the Rams' attack in the second half, setting sophomore Michael Tanke (Niles, Michigan) up with an excellent cross in front of the goal, but Tanke's shot was just a little too high as it sailed over the top of the net. Three minutes later, Crosby battled his way through a series of GW defenders before finding sophomore Greg Balicki (Wilbraham, Mass.) who fired off a shot from the far side that Scheer blocked, preventing URI from taking the lead.
At the other end of the field, junior Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) used a diving save to rob Perez-Segnini on a shot from point blank range in the 76th minute. Pennock went on to make two more saves in regulation and turned away another two in overtime, ending the game in a 1-1 draw.
"Chris really was the difference for us tonight," said head coach John O'Connor. "He made a couple of absolutely incredible saves out there and really kept us in the game."
The Rams return to the URI soccer complex on Sunday afternoon when they host Richmond at 1 p.m. Fans can watch the game live by logging on to Rhody All-Access. To follow the action via Gametracker, please click here.
