Anchorwomen win 2-0, clinch first LEC victory

They did it.

The Rhode Island College Anchorwomen, who hadn't won since August 30th, and having endured a 15-game winless streak, finally clinched their first Little East Conference win this afternoon.

They did it with only ten players, after Chelsea Creamer was shown her second yellow card in the first half. They did it with exceptional defending and stout goalkeeping from Maddie Pirri in the closing minutes. They did it with a relentless attack. Did I mention they were a player down? They did exactly what many of them told me during the past tew days: they were going to beat Southern Maine. And they did. They won.

It's been a disheartening campaign for the young Anchorwomen. This victory was well-deserved. They scratched and clawed. They played physical. They never backed down. It was unquestionably their best performance of the season. If this was a preview of coming attractions next season, mark my words: this will be a very good team next year.

Kayla Fleming, the lone senior on the team, finished her career on a high note. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving young woman. There is no doubt in my mind that this team will be greatly improved next season because of her leadership this fall.

It was a well-played game, with a well-earned result.

Good game, Anchorwomen.

Paper writing

What a day. A day marked by four very odd occurrances:

1. My pocket quacked.

2. I consumed, for the very first time, a Honey Nut Scooter that tasted like a California roll.

3. A large Dunkin Donuts coffee committed suicide off the roof of my car.

4. I bought cheese.

Now, this may come as a shock you...but I actually enjoy sitting on a cold aluminum bleacher at the tail of October to watch college soccer. Really. I don't know what it like more: enjoying a hot summer day at Narragansett Beach with my friends*, bodysurfing ten-foot waves, and getting plenty of attention from hot chicks in skimpy swimwear...or watching college soccer on metal bleachers cold enough to churn homemade ice cream on.

(*No offense at all to any of my previous girlfriends or chick friends, but there is no comparison between going to the beach with your guy friends and going with your gf/chick friends. Seaweed wars, the luxury of chick watching without interruption, and just general mischief are all made possible when surrounded by your fellow men.)

For real.

Wednesday afternoon's Anchorwomen game was no exception. It was cold. It was windy. It was cold and windy, two very unconfortable sensations. And what better way to experience that wonderful pair than parking one's darriere on the perfect conductor of said combo: an aluminum bench.

I arrived 15 minutes late, in large thanks to the afternoon logjam on Killingly Street, no vacancies on the lots adjacent to the field, and the retrieval of another large coffee. After such trifles, I was greeted with a 0-2 scoreline in favor of the orange-clad Salem State Vikings.

I greeted some familiar faces, then whipped out the notebook and its tag team partner, the pen.

You see, I've got this class. It's called Advanced Creative Writing: Nonfiction. My esteemed professor in said class assigned us a hearty 20-page paper to undertake before the end of November. The topic: anything you want. Romance. Drama. Comedy. Pokemon.* It didn't matter. But we have to be able to occupy twenty pages without sounding repeating ourselves ad nauseam. Or relying on size 24 font.

(*Actually, this premise is impossible. Pokemon, to the uninitiated, is not real.)

Guess which topic I chose? Seriously, guess.

You are absolutely right.

I chose sports.

Guess which team I chose to focus on? C'mon, c'mon. Just one guess. Last guess. No more after this one, I promise. Humor me.

Darn it, you're good. I did choose the Anchorwomen.

By the 20th minute, I was writing a virtual novel. Brief notes and though, mainly. No complete sentences. My brain was beginning to get numbed by the gusts of cold air that entered my ears. It was rough going for much of the game. By the second half, my writing took on a form that resembled a unique combination of early Picasso, hieroglyphics and elephant brushstrokes.

But a pair of Anchorwomen goals in the 26th and 67th minutes warmed my soul, even if it failed to warm my bones. Then, the chill returned when Salem State scored the clincher in the 77th.

Despite the fact that the loss doomed the club to the worst record in school history, I spoke with Maddie Pirri and Kristina Haughey, and they were not upset. Sure, they would have liked a few more wins. I'm sure Pirri wishes her goals-against average wasn't so high (which is tough because of the young defenders in front of her). And I can tell Haughey would do anything to be able to play right now.

At any rate, there was no bitterness. No sadness. In fact, there was optimism. The opportunity to do better next year exists. There is hope. And that's why I chose to devote twenty pages of writing to them - the best worst team in school history. Their record only tells 0.0001% of the tale. This year's team has a great story behind it.

And I intend to tell it.

Tradition renewed

Well, here I am once again.

For the first time in nearly a year, I'm at the Panera Bread in Smithfield after an Anchorwomen soccer game typing away my postgame notes.

In full disclosure, I did not know how much I'd miss this little routine of mine 'til today. Last year, after each RIC soccer game, I'd have my Acura take me to the nearest casual wi-fi equipped dining spot so I could dutifully convert my fresh postgame thoughts to written form onto this blog. And it's only fitting that I resume this ritual only minutes after I caught up with last year's senior captain Kerry Donahue and her mother Pam, both of whom took in this afternoon's RIC-Keene State game.

It was great to see them again - it's difficult for me to believe that it's also been nearly a year since I last saw them in the aftermath of last year's LEC semifinal loss to WestConn on a cold Danbury night. Kerry was one of the best collegiate defenders I'd ever seen. And Pam? Her homemade Rice Krispy treats are still 572% better than those pre-packaged imitations at the supermarket.

As for today's game - it was played under a cool blue sky and surrounded by brilliant oranges, subtle siennas and lively yellows. The air was a warm seventy degrees Fahrenheit. There was barely a hint of a breeze throughout. It was the quintessential New England autumn day.

On the pitch, the final score was 4-1, Keene State. That line is somewhat misleading: The final two goals were scored in the waning minutes after the Anchorwomen had kept the game 1-1 for 65 minutes. On paper, it looks like they're still sliding. Their last victory took place back in August, a 4-0 victory over Pitt-Bradford. On the contrary: the first sixty minutes displayed a confident bunch of players who menaced an opponent that should have taken care of them by the 20th minute.

The Anchorwomen were relentless - they pressured the Owls for a good 85 minutes before thet ran out of gas in the final five and conceded two unlucky goals. It was almost the exact opposite of their 2-4 loss to Bridgewater State, in which they morphed into a firing squad an lit up the board for two goals in the final eight minutes. If only the two sides could have been combined...

Mike Koperda's club continues to build off of these tough games, win, lose or draw. They are getting better*, and they will continue to do so for the remainder of the season. They know they're all but finished from Little East Conference playoff contention. That's the reality. There's nothing that can be done about the past. In essence, each game is a mini-playoff for these ladies. Spoilmakers? Why not? If they can do their best to knock out a few play0ff-caliber teams from contention, then all the better.

(*You may be sensing a theme here. No, I am not seeing a psychiatrist. Nor have I drank any Kool-Aid lately. So I challenge anyone to join me at any upcoming Anchorwomen game and tell me with a straight face that they're watching a bad team.)

Anyway, I was talking to Kerry at the half, and she said that despite the team's record (1-12-1), the team she joined as a freshman in 2004 also had its struggles before finding its form. But because they were all coming up together as a unit, they were able to get on the same page quickly. And you know what? That crop of freshmen in '04 ended up only three minutes away from clinching the school's first LEC Finals appearance.

Will this year's squad follow suit and achieve the same level of success come 2011? I don't know. But what I do know is that I have no doubt about the improvement I've witnessed through this season. I've seen some bad soccer, and let me tell you, I haven't seen it at Mount Pleasant at all. These ladies are not bad players. They are good, but very few are great. But ask Babe Ruth about fielding a team of great players:

"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime. "

This team, as a whole, has played marvelously at times. It has also played horribly. But, the moments of the former have already begun to outweigh the latter. There's been some crisp soccer played by Fleming, Tavana & Co. and there hasn't been any indication to suggest that they're going to let up before their season finale on November 1st.

Don't get me wrong. I am not Aladdin. I do not have a genie. But if the last few games are any indication, this will team will be a serious contender before I finally exit with my Master's.*

(*Tentative completion of said graduate studies: May 2067.)

So, just before my battery dies, I look outside my table window and release a subtle chuckle.

It's been a year since I last found my Saturday schedule with Anchorwomen soccer and post-game Panera Bread.

Who knows where this crop of Anchorwomen will be a year from now?

Anchorwomen drop tough 2-1 game to 8th-ranked Wesleyan

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Wesleyan's Hillary Biggs gave her club the go-ahead goal in the 56th minute en route to a 2-1 victory over the Rhode Island College Anchorwomen at RIC Soccer Field Wednesday night.

Biggs and Cora Lautze (25th minute) scored for the eighth-ranked (New England Division III) Cardinals. Christina Tavana scored for the Anchorwomen in the 29th minute.

The match began with heavy Cardinal pressure, as Sam Blank and Beth Kenworthy kept the young RIC backs busy for much of the first half. Even when the ball poked through the box, keeper Maddie Pirri kept Wesleyan off the board until the 25th minte when Taylor Stevenson sent a corner kick to Lautze, who deftly headed it in for the opening goal.

Undeterred, RIC came back less than four minutes when Tavan launched an uncannily accurate free kick from 25-yards that sailed above the grasp of Cardinal keeper Gavi Elkind to knot the score at one apiece.

Then, in the 41st minute, Tavana nearly clinched the go-ahead when she sent another 25-yard free kick - this one from the right - goalward before it clanked off the bar.

RIC gained momentum in the second half, and threatened in the Wesleyan zone more as the game progressed.

But when Blank found Biggs underneath the defense, there was no stopping the freshman midfielder, who found the back of the net in the 55th minute.

The Anchorwomen peppered the Cardinal goal with shots from Tavana, Chelsea Creamer and Alicia Lardaro. But the equalizer never appeared, as the RIC conceded the 2-1 score to Wesleyan.

Goodbye, college soccer season...

It shouldn't be this difficult.

It's 10:21am on a November 8th morning, and I am in the very slow and deliberate process of peeling off the Rhode Island College men's and women's soccer schedules from my cubicle walls. Had I known how arduous an affair this was going to be, I would have avoided posting them on my walls back in late August.

Ok, so that's a straight lie. I would have done it anyway. It would have been futile to prevent.

Anyone who knows me is aware that a good chunk of my life revolves around the fixture lists of soccer clubs. So it was an impossible proposition for me not to put these schedules on the small walls at work. However, it definitely wasn't my intent to grow so attached to both clubs - especially the women's side, after getting to know many of the players' parents during the season.

These schedules afforded me many wonderful thoughts of escaping the office to the cozy confines of the RIC Soccer Field. In fact, each team's first home match of the season was brightly highlighted in yellow marker, signifying its importance for me to set aside all else and make it there. The first match wasn't the only ones classified as "important", mind you. I can recall many a time where things at work were hectic, only to glance back at the schedules, side by side, and take comfort in knowing that either team was playing within the coming hours/days. The promise of sunny afternoons and cool late evenings kept my spirits high through the late-summer, early-autumn workweek and following Saturday afternoons.

I've purposely delayed this unhappy task. Both teams’ seasons ended last week, thus rendering these lists obsolete. But now, as I ceremoniously peel the tape off these magical fixtures that opened the door to my wonderful fixation with college soccer, I cannot help but release a sigh of sadness.

Goodbye, college soccer season.

Anchorwomen upset thwarted by controversial call; lose 3-2 to West Conn

Despite the heavy odds stacked against them, the fourth-seeded Rhode Island College Anchorwomen came within three minutes of a stunning upset of the top-seeded Western Connecticut State University Colonials in the Little East Conference semifinals before a controversial call sent the match into double-overtime, where RIC heartbreakingly succumbed to the 3-2 loss.

From the opening whistle, the Colonials controlled early on, as the Anchorwomen backline was tested with two shots by the tenth minute. Though the potent striking duo of Catherine Nathans (13 goals) and Kim Crayco (11 goals) challenged the guests, the burgundy and gold backline duly kept them at bay for much of the match.

Just as RIC had found its rhythm, West Conn sparked up a counterattack in the 38th minute when Nathans sprinted through the backline and went one on one with keeper Maddie Pirri before the junior striker calmly chipped it in, giving the her side the 1-0 lead.

Undaunted, RIC pressed on by controlling the midfield at length, menacing West Conn with a frenzy of crisp passes. With only two substitutes at his disposal, RIC coach Denis Chartier judiciously spelled his playmakers as much as possible in order to keep the attack energized.

RIC kicked off the second half by dominating possession early on, and it paid dividends less than ten minutes later when Chelsea Creamer hauled in a Krista MacKinnon pass inside the box and deftly chipped it into the corner of the net, tying the score at one apiece.

With a severely depleted bench, an added sense of urgency prevailed among the RIC players in order to keep the match from turning into a multiple OT marathon that they were ill-equipped to endure. Their fervent attack found paydirt in the 74th minute when the speedy Calenda raced down the right and into the box, and angled a perfect shot that sailed into the upper realm of the net, giving the lower-seed a stunning one-goal lead with just over fifteen minutes left in regulation.

Cautiously sitting atop the one-goal lead, the Anchorwomen refocused on the defending, and though the Colonials broke through on two occasions, defender Kerry Donahue boldly snuffed any hopes the home side had at equalizing going into the 80th minute.

As the final minutes of regulation waned, WestConn inserted fresh substitutes in the form of Domonique Poscascio and Victoria Capoziello, attempting to crack the RIC backline. RIC, on the brink of a major upset, stepped up by solidifying its defense, as the Colonials were continually stonewalled despite creating quality chances.

Then, in the 87th minute, controversy ensued when a corner kick was fortuitously granted to West Conn after it appeared that, in a battle for the ball near the right corner flag, the ball had last touched a Colonial player before skipping past the byline. Despite vehement protests by the Anchorwomen, the decision stood, and seconds later, Caitlin Boyle headed the Cassie Barbaresi outswinger right into the heart of the net, drawing the match even at two-all, and sending the game into overtime minutes later.

An exhausted Anchorwomen side bravely fended off the Colonials during the first overtime, but with less than six minutes remaining in the second OT, the Colonials lined up for another corner. After the kick was played short to Jessica Sperlazza, she then pushed it forward to Kim Crayco, who slipped it past Pirri point blank for the game-winner in the 107th minute, as West Conn squeaked by to clinch its second consecutive LEC Finals appearance.

Tuesday Rant

As I sit here looking out the office window at wonderful splashes of vivid oranges and reds, burnt browns, and bright yellows, I cannot believe that it's October 23rd, and the college soccer season is nearing an end.

Prior to this season, I didn't have much of an interest in the college game. As I was busy following the Revolution and Stingrays, the idea of college soccer hadn't even been a passing thought. But after reading Gregg Easterbrook's TMQ, and absorbing observations from small-college football teams, it inspired me to do the same, in terms of college soccer. Thus, a new window to the game was opened, and what a Ticonderoga-sized window that proved to be.

I sit here in the exact spot where I first took it upon myself to follow college soccer. I looked toward my two alma maters - RIC and CCRI - and hashed out which school and which squad (men's or women's) I'd choose as my primary candidate for additional soccer writing chores. I ended up choosing the RIC sides, but as the season wore on, the RIC Anchorwomen became "my" team.

There's something in the collegiate game that is absent from pro soccer. A remarkable innocence of the game still resides on the pitches of colleges and universities. A wonderful sense of community prevails. The crowd energy is much different, though still spirited nonetheless, as the majority of them are parents and friends of the players before them. In other words, they literally love the players, and their enthusiasm is touchingly clear.

Tonight, the RIC Anchormen will face off against Amherst College in one of the final RIC home matches of the season. I cannot believe how quickly the season has transpired. It seems as if the RIC-St. John's Fisher College back on a hot and muggy August 31st afternoon just took place. Now, as the leaves began to retreat from the trees, the number of visits to the RIC Soccer Field has dwindled down to three.

Forget the Sox in the World Series, or the Patriots rolling over the competition. The Rhode Island College soccer teams occupy the first priority slot in my universe right now.

Donahue, Hummel lead RIC to victory on Senior Day; clinch playoff berth

On a cool and overcast autumn afternoon, the Rhode Island College Anchorwomen warmed up the home crowd with a gritty 1-0 win over Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday.

The Anchorwomen, who also honored their seniors in a touching pre-match ceremony, were challenged by an ESCU squad that had entered the match riding an astonishing 465-minute streak of shutout soccer, and looked poised to extend the streak even further.

Early on, both clubs searched to establish the attack, as possession was fairly even after the first twenty minutes. The two-headed monster of Gina Calenda and Lindsay Laurie began to menace the Warrior backs halfway through the half as RIC began to tilt the possession scales in their favor.

With the scaffolding removed, the potent Anchorwomen attack began to elicit desperate measures from their opponents, and the Warriors were forced to foul in the 28th minute, setting up a free kick from about 35-yards. Appropriately enough on Senior Day, a pair of seniors hooked up on the a set piece strike when senior defender Kerry Donahue curled it perfectly toward a gaggle of white and blue jerseys up front before senior midfielder Abby Hummel thumped a header that lodged itself in the back of the net for the one-goal lead.

As the second half commenced, the proceedings began to get even chippier with both clubs trading jabs in the midfield. To his credit, referee Tony Reis refused to make himself a part of the game, as he allowed the players to simply play.

But as tempers began to flare near the hour mark, Reis did well to keep the match from becoming a multi-card UFC event after Kristina Haughey battled Melissa Roy for the ball near the right channel before Roy brought her down. But before Roy was booked, Haughey kicked back at the Warrior midfielder, to which Reis immediately rewarded with a red card, thus leaving the home side a player down with close to thirty minutes remaining.

Unfazed by the dismissal of their teammate, the Anchorwomen hunkered down on defense stood up a impressive Warrior attack that had scored seventeen goals in its previous five matches. Led by Donahue and Mallary Bileau, the backline became an impenetrable fortress, as the Anchorwomen held on for the win.

With the victory over their Little East Conference rivals, RIC clinched not only a playoff berth, but a home field playoff match either on October 30th or November 2nd.