Gonsalves performs the hat trick in 4-2 demolition of Long Island

Despite the calendar indicating a twenty-four hour period of unluckiness, Friday the 13th proved to be a wildly lucky day for Stingray striker Jeff Gonsalves. The former URI Ram played without curse or hijinx, as he netted an astounding three goals for the Rays in a resounding 4-2 victory over Long Island last night.

Gonsalves first took residence in Long Island territory in the 7th minute, when he raced right into the heart of the Long Island back line and launched a rocket that deflected off a hapless Rider defender before the box. Despite the slight redirection, ball arched perfectly into the upper right shelf for the opening salvo, and gave the home side the early one-goal advantage.

Soon after, a scary scene occurred at the 8th minute mark, when Riders midfielder Paul Roderick galloped into goalkeeper Joshua Ford, which left the Stingray down for a few tense moments before he came back to his feet.

However, a few minutes later, Ford was immediately tested, and made beautiful stop on a Rider shot that left him vulnerable on the rebound. Said rebound found the foot of Roderick, who rifled the shot from the right flank for the equalizer in the 11th minute.

As the game drew toward the halfway point of the first half, tempers on both sides flared, as Rays midfielder Jonathan Pereira was awarded a yellow card by referee Guido Gonzalez for a questionable violation. Soon after, the Riders began to unleash a flurry of rather unsportsmanlike shots at various Stingray players, which drew the ire of a visibly upset Mario Pereira.

The school of hard knocks continued for the remainder of the frame, as both club’s players traded more late tackles and high elbows than offensive chances.

As the first frame neared conclusion, the Riders looked to be taking the offensive advantage, as the Rays began to find themselves in reverse more than drive .Then, in the 44th minute, the Stingrays quickly counterattacked, as Dawid Badecki fed a gluttonous Gonsalves, who beautifully samba’ed through the right flank, cut inside, and took an impossibly-angled shot on goal that magically found a home in the top left shelf of the net for the go-ahead goal minutes before the curtain fell on the first half.

When the second half kicked off, the Riders sought to locate the equalizer and wasted no time in doings so. Two minutes into Act Two Mike Grella took a fortuitous rebound off the far post and tapped in the easy goal at the edge of the goal mouth in the 47th minute.

Just after the hour mark, the Rays broke through the Rider back line when Badecki delivered a perfect ball on net that was batted away by Riders keeper Jason Landers, but the sequence turned out empty handed, as the both club battled at midfielder for most of the second half.
Tempers went wild again in the 72nd minute, when Gonzalez gave Rider coach Dave Fisher an untimely ejection, after the manager continued to hurl disparaging comments regarding the quality of the officiating.

With the score level, it was the Riders that found themselves in better position to attain the go-ahead score. However, a black cat must have been lurking near the Long Island bench when, in the 77th minute, Grella went one on one with Rays defender Darren Howerton deep into the Stingray box, before the shifty midfielder sidestepped Howerton, paused, and launched a clear shot on goal that flailed high over the crossbar. Less than a minute later, Grella, in a reprisal of his recent performance, once again crashed the box, and yet again faked out his defender, before firing a shot that unluckily went off the back heel of an oblivious John Nolan, who was simply marking his man before the goal mouth.

Then, with less than ten minutes remaining in regular time, Marlon Giraldo found Evan Unger in wide open pasture. Unger took two touches, and launched a hard shot on net deflected wide of the Rider net. On the ensuing corner kick, the ball was headed by Ryan McCormick tantalizingly close to the goal before Gonsalves followed up with another header and directed it past Landers for the go-ahead in the 83rdminute.

Uncontent with a one-goal advantage, an-all out Stingray assault culminated on a McCormick screamer from the right flank in the 86th minute, which gave the Rays the insurance goal with time quickly dwindling.

As the leaderless Riders struggled to re-assemble their attack in the slim hopes of closing the two-goal gap, the Rays stonewalled the flailing Long Island attack, and the home club preserved the much-needed 4-2 victory on home soil.

Stingrays draw even to Fury, 1-1

Like a pair of mixed martial arts fighters, the Rhode Island Stingrays and Ottawa Fury punched, kicked and grappled their way to a 1-1 draw Sunday afternoon at Pierce Memorial Field before an enthusiastic ringside crowd.

The Fury kicked off for the first half under cloudy skies and cool temperatures, as both teams attempted to find their pace in the opening minutes. Both teams struggled to muster any quality chances until the 8th minute, when Jeff Gonsalves crashed the box but narrowly missed net, hitting the side of the goal as the ball harmlessly bounced out of play.

As both clubs continued to scratch and claw at each other, it wasn’t until the 13th minute that Rays midfielder Lukasz Tumicz charged down the Fury end of the field before unleashing a speculative shot that went well over the Fury net.

Less than a minute later, Peter Wise effectively ended dangerous Fury sequence when he stopped a Phil Amahazion point blank shot in the box, keeping the score 0-0.

The Rays caught the Fury completely off guard in the 19th, when Gonsalves streaked down the left flank with nothing but wide open real estate ahead and sent the ball toward a hard charging Tumicz on the right, who took the pass and drew the lone Fury defender before he crossed it right back to his teammate for the easy goal. 1-0, and the Rays took control.

The goal sparked the Rays attack, and they dominated possession in the following minutes, while Ottawa defenders charged and chased the ball all in vain for a large chunk of the first half.

In the 32nd minute, Danleigh Borman crossed a beautiful ball from the left to a sliding Gonsalves, who narrowly missed the connection, as the ball sailed inches away from the threatening boot of the former Toronto FC prospect.

As the Rays kicked off for the second frame, Ottawa came out attacking like the proverbial bat out of hell before the patient Rays dense neutralized the rather sloppy attack in the opening minutes. The Rays proceeded to launch counterattacks almost at will, as the Fury attack often disintegrated before the ball even reached the box.

In the 50th minute, Borman flicked a well-placed pass to Jeff Cameron, who broke down the left flank toward the Fury goal and cracked a shot that clanked off the right post.

The Rays continued to stymie the Ottawa defense, and the only answer provided to the patient and methodical attack was undisciplined aggression that displayed Ottawa’s unorganized defending tactics, leading to numerous fouls and three yellow cards issued before the 60 minute mark.

Quality scoring bids for the Fury were kept to minimum for most of the match until
the 85th minute, when an Ottawa corner kick flew into the box, prompting Wise to make an attempt at the ball. However, he was caught out of position and fell to the ground, as three Fury attackers battled for the loose ball before Fury forward William Beauge easily tapped the equalizer into the net with less than ten minutes left to play.

Any hope for the Rays to attain the game-winner came a minute into extra time, when midfielder Alonso Villasenor sent an immaculate feed to a gate-crashing Gonsalves before the striker knocked home the apparent go-ahead goal. But soon after celebrations commenced, the referee’s assistant waved his flag offside, thus stifling the last true chance the blue and gold had at earning three points at home, as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

2007 Stingrays Season Preview

With warm weather finally upon us, spring (and by extension, soccer, of course) has indeed arrived.

Therefore, let us look ahead to the promise of warmer temps and later sunsets, as the following is a preview to the sunny days and warm summer nights of Stingrays soccer in ‘07.The ‘Rays, coming off a 6-8-2 record (20 points) in the New England Division of the Premier Development League, look to improve upon their 3rd place finish.

Despite narrowly missing the playoffs by four points last year, the team hopes to build on a foundation of returning veterans in an attempt to catapult the club to their first playoff appearance since 1998.

That being said, the team should have no problems finding the back of the net, after scoring 39 total goals (2nd-best in the division) in 2006.

Last year's goal scoring efforts, led by the Rhody Ram tandem of Dawid Badecki (7 G, 2 A) and Danleigh Borman (7 G, 2 A), will both be returning to the team this year. Although the club will be without the services of assist leader Jeffrey Gonsalves, (selected 40th overall by Toronto FC in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft), another Rhody Ram duo of Geoffrey Cameron (4 G, 1 A) and Lukasz Tumicz (4 G, 2 A) will be returning to the club's potent midfield corps. Steady veteran Alonso Villasenor (CCRI) will be returning as well, and should be able incorporate his leadership abilities into a team which has, by and large, little turnover from the 2006 season.

The defending corps will see the returns of their two primary players in Matthew Britner (Brown) and Callum Bissett (URI), with key contributors Mario Aceta (Iona) and Adam Howart (URI) returning as well. Last year's defenders did well to shut down opposing teams, as they helped the club post five shutout wins in '06.

The goalkeeping situation appears, on paper, to be a two-man duel of returning keepers. David Semenza (Brown) and Brendan Fitzgerald (Duke) will both be back in goal for the ‘Rays this season. Semenza saw the bulk of the goalkeeping chores for the ‘Rays last year, going 5-7-2 with an even 2.00 GAA in 14 appearances. However, look for his understudy to stoke the fire of the keeper competition after going 2-1-0 with a spectacular 0.80 GAA last year in limited action.

Of course, with the club recently conducting tryouts to scout additional local talent, there will, no doubt, be fresh faces sporting the royal blue and white on the Pierce Field pitch this season.

There is no question that manager Mario Pereira has an eye for such talent, as he has seen two recent ‘Rays (the aforementioned Gonsalves and Nico Colaluca in 2005) jump to the ranks of MLS during this offseason alone.

So fear not, Stingray fans – the Saturday night soccer at Pierce Field this summer will sure to be just as entertaining as years past, as the ‘Rays begin their quest to achieve playoff glory in a matter of days.