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Men's Soccer
Borman's Blog: An Inside Look At URI Men's Soccer
Hello
We finally ended the regular season this weekend with games at Well, we were successful this weekend and won both games! Its always tough going to play in Philly though. There's a lot of antics that go on and things tend to get a little more scrappy and physical than they need to be. That was one of the points our coaches emphasized - to watch out for that and just keep our cool... Its frustrating to me when games go in that direction. I know that I, myself, hate it when we sometimes get caught up in those sort of mental games and forget about actually playing soccer... Fortunately the boys held their composure this weekend and played some pretty football... and it certainly was ugly at times, but we'll take the wins - thank you very much! :) Friday's game started off slow, we didn't look that great thru the first 30min... but then started to play our game... we scored early in the second half (47th min) and then late in the second half (89th min). Sunday's game was a rougher...I honestly haven't played against a team like Well, we scored another two goals and then coach made subs... This made me happy - to see the boys that hardly played during the year get some time! The final score was 4-2 and we secured our place in the tournament with a bye... So, back to the grind this week... probably our biggest yet since we need to win the tournament in order to play in the NCCA tourney... I just wanna end off by saying this: if you should ever go to Philly, don't go to IHOP - its terrible over there!!!!! Thanks for reading and keep on cheering for us!
This past weekend showed a lot of emotions... from happiness to sadness to frustration and relief!!! For all of you that follow URI men's soccer, our final home game of the season was on Sunday. In the Senior Day ceremony (before the start of the game) the seniors were presented with flowers and most were accompanied onto the field by their parents/families. Trust me when I say that mostly all the parents were here - we had families in from Well, Friday started off with us playing Fordham. It was a tough game - one of those where you created chances but the ball would not go in the back of the net... Their keeper made some good saves, the ball would hit the framework, etc. It was frustrating but we knew the goal would come... And it finally did, with 5 mins to go in the game - how relieved were we?! Sunday... What an emotional day... We had our last pre-game meal at Kingston Pizza, our last pre-game team meeting in the Mackal conference room, our last talk in our home locker room... Each senior said something about their time playing here at URI and a few tears were shed. It was sad!!! You don't understand how much we're gonna miss playing on that field! When you come in as a freshman you don't really have that much pride... But over the years, that Rams sign on your chest means something and it meant A LOT to us seniors!!! Then, we had our last walk across the field together, the last time our warm-up CD would be played, our last warm-up with Coach Burgs at home, our last 90 minutes and our last "1,2,3 FAMILY" AT HOME!!!! Oh, and by the way, we won on Sunday, 1-0, against Well, playing at home is over now, but we still have two games next week and then the A-10 Tournament (I think we qualified to play in the tournament by winning those games this weekend)... So, if we are victorious in both of our games this coming weekend, I think we should finish second in the conference and get a bye at the tournament... Back to the grind this week at practice... Before I sign off, I want to say that our senior class has really appreciated all of the support we've had at home over the last four years... Thank you so much and keep supporting!!!!
It was such a lovely day to play football... The mood in the camp was so relaxed. I've honestly never have seen the boys in this mood before... it actually put me at ease! Everybody was joking around and not stressing out like we have been before games - I think we psych ourselves out sometimes... Football is a game of fun, though! And when we go and play, we need to be happy that we are out there - not all psyched out. Well, it started with that - the mood in the camp - and then the weather... it was raining (but not hard) and it was cold (but not that kind of cold that you can't handle). It was the perfect temperature to play!!!! The field was looking good and the boys were ready for this game! I mean, obviously we were ready - we were going to play UMASS - one of our biggest rivals! In my career at Well, Saturday's game started off with UMass taking the lead in the 41st second of the game... Yes, you read that correctly - the 41st second!! Although they scored early, we were not too worried... we knew what we had to do... Well, we tied the game up in the same half and then everything just flowed!!! We were working hard, creating chances, playing together... I'm telling you it was fun! We ended up winning the game 3-1 and that was good for our standings in the conference. I can honestly say that I haven't enjoyed a game like that in a while... I felt like a little kid again!!! Anyway we've got a big weekend up ahead... its gonna be some of the boys' last home games, myself included!!!! Hope to see you there!!!!!
This past weekend, we flew to We started Friday night, against But then, the second half started and I think the boys felt as if it was gonna be to easy... until Charlotte scored the luckiest goal I have ever seen... off of a huge scramble in the box!!!!! We ended up tying the 49ers, but we certainly had opportunities to put the game away - we were just unlucky. Sunday we played the big dogs of the conference, 12th-ranked We still were dominating the game until one of their guys won our goal kick and put there striker through on a breakaway... Our defender was able to clear it - unfortunately though, straight back to there other striker. Then, with our keeper off his line, the striker just banged it off his head. To be fair, it was a nice goal... but it spoiled our momentum. Nevertheless, the boys fought hard but to no avail... since they had four shots on target and converted three into goals, I guess luck was on there side on Sunday. So, we tied and lost this weekend but I don't think it damaged our confidence at all... And now we have a better idea of that it will take to get one of the top seeds into the Atlantic 10 tournament. One thing I have to mention about our team this weekend is that we need to play for the full 90 minutes... We play in stages - and to be successful we need to dominate for the full 90 min... I know we're all disappointed with the tie and the loss but we shouldn't get too down about it because we didn't play poorly... Both those teams were beatable and I know that if we get them again, we will be victorious... Until next week....holla!!!!
Wow, what a stressful weekend! It was the beginning of our A-10 matches and what a way to start, with back-to-back wins against Xavier and Friday night we were playing well - and created so many more chances than Xavier - yet they got the first goal... So, yes, it was frustrating that we were down 1-0... but we all had this feeling that we were going to win - and we knew exactly what we had to do to get that result. In the end, a lot of hard work and playing together helped us get the victory! Sunday was similar to Friday, only I must say, I'm proud of the boys. We really showed some character this weekend and I think that's what we needed for the start of A-10 play. Granted, we don't really want to concede goals... but in the end, not only did we get two wins, we got some much needed team spirit! In a way, it showed us that we have each other's backs and that we willing to fight for one another... Well, everybody is happy in the camp right now, being 2-0-0 in the conference. We just need to keep at it and carry this momentum with us to Other than that, we'll be working hard at practice this week and looking forward to our next games. Also, before I sign off, I wanted to say CONGRATS to all of the URI teams that won this weekend! And to the others, keep fighting and work hard... all the hard work pays off in the end!!
October 9, 2007 - It Was Hot Hot Hot... Well, we left Saturday morning for VA, to play our last non-conference game before we start our Atlantic 10 matches, and I can tell you now that this was probably the worst traveling experience that we've had all year! In total, we traveled for at least 10 hours. Leaving campus at Sunday we played at the Anyway, the game was scheduled for Well, on we went with the game - which we knew Midway through the first half, we looked really lethargic but we still maintained possession of the ball... It was good because we created a lot of chances we just didn't finish... At the end of the game, we had 23 shots to their 13 and tied the game 0-0... We dominated though, so I guess we should be happy with how we played... And I'm sure that on a different day - and with cooler weather - the result would have been in our favor... Well, now its time to get ready for A-10 play - and everybody is starting with a clean slate... We'll see who wants that title the most......
We finally won! It's been a while, but on Sunday the 30th of September, everything finally came together for us. All the hard work and effort that we put in during the week paid off. We worked together, created chances, finished those chances, and beat Maine by a score of 4-1... which was such a feeling of relief as just two nights prior (at Hartford) we did all of those same things an yet could not - for the life of us - finish! Against I must also say that it seemed as if everybody really enjoyed themselves on Sunday... It was so good to actually play well as a team again and have everybody working together. The win was just the icing on the cake... I hope now, with a few goals, scoring will become a bit easier... We've definitely taken a step in the right direction and it is important that we remember what it took to get here... Sometimes, we have the tendency to become complacent but we all know that our current record won't allow for complacency! So, now we will try to keep this momentum going with another win at I will leave you with this: It really is true - enjoyment does come with winning!
Ok, we lost again this weekend! To But in what seems to be the URI men's soccer tradition - we have started off slow... Even my mother, who is all the way in Coach has asked us all to do some soul searching... so that is how I have spent the past few days. Here is what I've come up with: In the beginning, our problem was that weren't playing together... We've worked on this, but still haven't received the results we are looking for. Hopefully, that will come soon. We've also struggled to create clear cut chances... And we are still struggling to do this. Maybe we need a change of personnel? Move a few players around? I don't know... but then again who does? I also wonder - are we all just trying too hard? Forcing the game when we need to just play the game? I know that this comes from wanting to do well and wanting to win games. But I also know that, personally, I do my best when I am just playing soccer - not thinking about all of the technical aspects. Lately though, I think maybe its been too much thinking and not enough playing... It needs to just come naturally. Or is it that we just need to grind, grind and grind some more? The last two years, when we've won the Atlantic 10 Championship, that's what we done - we've outgrinded and outworked our opponents. We haven't been doing that this year... And I'm worried that this could be because we feel as though the game owes us something - that since we have the talent, and have done so well in the past, we just expect that good things to happen to us. The truth is though, the game owes us absolutely nothing and we are privileged to even be playing at this level. Lastly, are we enjoying ourselves? As coach G always says: If we win, then we'll starting enjoying it... But lately, its become so bad that you wonder why you're playing... Am I playing because I have to? Shouldn't it be because I want to? Anyway, that's all I have for this week. My brain is fairly tired from all this soul searching... We are going to turn this around! As WET, WET, WET would say: I can feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes... Until next week - peace, love and happiness!!!!
Yep, we lost again... this time to Brown. I apologize if I don't sound too happy, but our record is The thing that's most frustrating is that we worked hard all week and everybody was really focused. We were playing like a team again at practice and we took that into the game with us... We didn't play badly Sunday - it was actually one of our better games - but in the end it was Brown that found a way to win. That's soccer for you though - its about putting that sphere in the back of the net... Given that we played well, I think our biggest challenge is creating clear cut chances to score and finding a way to win. I know the camp is down right now and everybody's doing some soul searching but we can't dwell on this loss because we still have the rest of the season ahead of us. And we have to start focusing on our next game - which is I'm not going to say much this time because I'm still gutted about the loss... The boys know that we've got to come together as a family and put extra effort in to getting ourselves out of this rut!!!! BU, watch out...
So this past weekend was probably our toughest yet as we traveled to Anyhow, unfortunately things did not go the way had we planned... Our first opponent was #8 Notre Dame. We knew that this was a well-rounded team that did all of the little things really well. We didn't buy into all the hype about playing one of the nation's best teams because we know that we are good enough to be playing at that level - and we saw this tournament as a way to prove that. Unfortunately, our confidence took a blow in the fourth minute of the game, when Notre Dame scored as a result of silly team errors. This really unsettled us... and its where we should have held our composure. Instead, everyone was trying extra hard to win the ball back to make things happen for us... its good that the boys had the desire, but its wasn't exactly smart. As a team, one of our strongest points is that we're really good when we everyone is working together - that early goal really got to us though and simply destroyed our game plan. From there, Notre Dame just picked us apart and that's what happens when you play good teams. We still fought till the end but to no avail... the final score was 3-0 due to a good effort... but not a smart effort. Sunday came and it was time to face fourth-ranked The game was very even with both teams getting chances at goals. Once again, to our letdown, silly errors led to two goals against us. At least this time we held our composure though, and we were still pressuring the In the second half, the boys continued to work hard and create a few chances but did not capitalize on these opportunities. Otherwise, I feel that we learned a great deal this weekend. We played against the big boys - and its not that we don't have the talent to hang with them - it's just that we need to work harder on our fitness and stick to what we know best... working together and winning!
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