October 7, 2008
Box Score
BRYANT FALLS TO BROWN IN HARD FOUGHT BATTLE UNDER THE LIGHTS
TUESDAY
PROVIDENCE, RI- The Bryant University men's soccer team played
some of their best soccer of the season, but came up just short as
they fell to Brown, 1-0, Tuesday night. Brown, who came into the
match just outside the top-25 according this week's
NSCAA/Adidas national poll, were only able to muster one goal
against an aggressive Bulldog defense led by sophomore
Norbert Guery (Andover, Mass) and senior captain
Manny Rodriguez (North Branford, Conn.).
The lone goal of the match came in the 10th minute of
play when Sean Rosa made a nice move along the end line to beat the
Bryant defense and found TJ Thompson, who may have been in an
offside position, on the right side of the six. Thompson hit a
one-time shot with the inside of his right foot just past keeper
Andrew Snell (South Salem, N.Y.) and into the back
of the net to give Brown a 1-0 lead.
Snell played a great game in net for the Bulldogs, making five
saves including a great diving stop on a shot from 18 yards out by
Nick Elenz-Martin.
The Bulldogs had their chances, especially in the second half,
as they controlled much of the possession. Junior Kyle
Paton (Westfield, Mass.) came inches away from tying the
match late when a rolling ball came his way just outside the 18.
Paton hit a hard right-footed shot that looked like it was heading
for the upper-right corner but just tailed outside the post at the
last second.
Guery had a great shot at tying the game as well on a free kick
from 25 yards away. He hit a low-driven shot into the penalty area
that deflected off a Brown defender, but just hooked around the
outside post.
In the 85th minute of the play, the Bulldogs would
have one more opportunity, this time a throw from freshman
Ben Lawrence (Amherst, N.H.) found its way through
the penalty box to a streaking Manny Rodriguez who couldn't quite
get the good part of his foot on the ball and it went wide of the
net. Lawrence played a solid game in the back for Bryant, making
key tackles along the sidelines.
Sophomore Tom Nelan (East Haddam, Conn.) was a
key target on goal kicks and free kicks, winning almost every head
ball in the middle to help control possession for Bryant.
Senior forward Matt Brown (South Easton, Mass.)
controlled the ball up front for Bryant and put a lot of pressure
on the Bears defenders. Coach Seamus Purcell said,
"He (Brown) was flying around out there. He created a lot of
problems for the Brown defenders tonight."
Purcell went on to say, "It was a great team effort tonight.
Everyone played hard. They all could be man of the match
tonight."
Bryant will have a week off before its next match, when they try
to carry this effort into Providence to take on the Friars on
Wednesday (3 p.m.).
Men's Soccer
@ Providence, RI
Brown 1, Bryant 0
Goals:
BRY - none
BROWN - Thompson (10th )
Shots - Bryant 12, Brown 19 Saves - Bryant 5, Brown
2
Halftime - Brown 1-0
