Rams Edged by Dayton, 3-2, at Atlantic 10 Championship - RHODE ISLAND OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

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Rams Edged by Dayton, 3-2, at Atlantic 10 Championship

Erkko Puranen scored both goals for the Rams.

Erkko Puranen

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Nov. 13, 2008

Box Score

PITTSBURGH - Freshman Erkko Puranen (Viitisaari, Finland) scored two goals for the Rams as the sixth-seeded Rhode Island men's soccer team was defeated by third-seeded Dayton, 3-2, in the opening game of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship. Rhody finishes the season with an overall record of 8-8-3, while Dayton improves to 13-4-2 and advances to take on #2 Temple in Friday's semifinals.

The Rams jumped out to an early lead on Puranen's eighth goal of the season just 8:46 into the match. Puranen, who was later named to the All-Championship team, dribble down the middle and beat Dayton's Tyler Picard with a shot to the left corner of the goal to give the Rams the 1-0 advantage. Senior Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) was credited with an assist on the play.

Rhody nearly went up by two, 20 mintues later, when Picard made a diving save on junior Gary Crooks' (Falkirk, Scotland) re-start ball from 20 yards out. The rebound bounced out to Puranen, who fired off a shot that went just wide of the goal.

Rhode Island held onto the lead until UD's Isaac Kissi found the back of the net on a rebound shot at the 30:20 mark. The Flyers then used a 40th minute penalty kick to go up, 2-1, before the break.

URI came back from halftime and evened things up at the 56:27 mark when Puranen netted his second goal of the game on a pass from Crooks.

Just 31 seconds later however, Dayton reclaimed the lead when Florian DeCamps sent a high header over sophomore goalkeeper Peyton Warwick (Prairie Village, Kan.) to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Flyers.

The Rams continued to apply the pressure, as Puranen, sophomore Andres Ruiz (Providence, R.I.) and freshman Reece Markman (Dallas, Texas) combined for four more shots on goal thru the remainder of regulation, but Picard was solid in net, turning away all four attempts.

Rhody's final chances came in the game's final minutes when Crooks fired off a shot which was blocked by a Dayton defender before Ruiz collected the rebound and sent a shot over the net with 20 seconds remaining.

Warwick, who took the loss, finished with three saves in 64:27 of action before being replaced by junior Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England). Picard had five stops for for the Flyers.

For the game, Rhode Island outshot Dayton, 18-11, including a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. Each team had three corner kicks and Dayton out-fouled URI, 17-12.

Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer All-Championship Team
F, Florian DeCamps, Dayton - Most Outstanding Player
M, Isaac Kissi, Dayton
M, Ben Murray, Dayton
D, Ryan Handbury, Dayton
D, Stuart Thomson, Massachusetts
M, Mike DeSantis, Massachusetts
GK, Zack Simmons, Massachusetts
D, Calum Angus, Saint Louis
D, Tim Ream, Saint Louis
F, Erkko Puranen, Rhode Island
M, J.T. Noone, Temple