Anchormen fall to Stevens in 2nd round of NCAA's, 0-2

Less than 24 hours after clinching its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, Rhode Island College was eliminated after it fell 0-2 to Stevens Institute of Technology 0-2 at Babson Park Sunday afternoon.

Nolan Sandberg clinched the brace with goals at the 43rd and 88th minutes. RIC was relegated to ten men after Dan Rodrigues was shown the red card in the 52nd minute.

Unlike Saturday's even match versus Babson, Rhode Island was overwhelmed by the Stevens attack. Anchormen keeper Justin O'Connor held his line admirably until the 43rd minute when he ran toward the left flank to smother a Terrance Johnson breakway. But the the ball escaped O'Connor, and Sandberg took the loose ball from 30 yards and sailed a line drive under the bar for the opening goal.

RIC struggled to keep the Stevens attack under wraps, and their frustration showed when Rodrigues came in hard on Chris Faustino near center circle. The Ducks midfielder hit the pitch hard, and referee Todd Stigliano awarded the Anchorman winger with a straight red card ejection in the 52nd minute.

Forced to play the remainder of their second match in two days a man down, the Anchormen could not keep pace with Stevens.

An opportunity to equalize arrived in the 77th minute when Bruno Costa forced Zach Carr to make a heady save on the doorstep of his goal.

But Sandberg sealed up the scoring with only two minutes remaining in regulation when Johnson fed him a perfect ball near the far post and cooly slotted it through to effectively end RIC's season.