November 12, 2008

Three Rams Earn Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer All-Conference Honors

Nov. 12, 2008

2008 Atlantic 10 All-Conference Teams

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Three Rhode Island men's soccer players received Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors in voting conducted by the league's head coaches. Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad), Dwayne Williams (Westmoreland, Jamaica) and Erkko Puranen (Viitasaari, Finland) all were named to the All-Conference second team while Puranen also earned a spot on the All-Rookie squad.

Crosby, a senior co-captain, finished the regular season second on the team in points (12), goals (4) and assists (4). In league games only, he recorded three assists and three goals - including last weekend's overtime game-winner against Charlotte. Averaging 80+ minutes per game as a striker for the Rams, he is one of just four players to have started in each of Rhode Island's 18 matches this season.

Puranen is one of three first-year players to land a spot on both the All-Conference second team and the All-Rookie team. As Rhody's leading scorer, he finished the 2008 regular season ranked sixth in the league in goals (7) and goals per game (0.41). Those numbers also placed his second among all A-10 rookies. To date, Puranen has two game-winning goals - both of which came in 1-0 overtime victories against Harvard and Hartford.

Williams, a center-back for the Rams, was one of just three sophomores to earn All-Conference honors and the lone second-year defender. Starting in each of his 17 games played, Williams led the team with three game-winning goals this season - including the 93rd-minute golden goal at Duquesne on Oct. 17. He also added an assist in URI's 3-2 victory over Albany to finish the regular season with seven total points.

With a 4-3-2 mark in conference play this season (8-7-3 overall), Rhode Island earned the #6 seed in the A-10 tournament. As a result, the Rams will face third-seeded Dayton in the Championship's opening game, Thursday at 6 p.m. at Duquesne's Rooney Field.

To watch the game live on the internet, please log on to Rhody All-Access or visit the Atlantic 10's Men's Soccer Championship page. Live statistics are also available, through the Gametracker link.