SJU Athletics Photos

KINGSTON, R.I. (10/31/03) – The University of Rhode Island men's soccer squad notched a thrilling 2-1 double-overtime victory against Saint Joseph's in a key Atlantic 10 contest at the URI Soccer Complex. URI improves to 8-9-1, and 4-4-1 in the Atlantic 10, while keeping the Rams in the hunt for the conference regular season title. Saint Joseph's falls to 7-9-1 and 4-4-1 in the conference with two league games remaining. Rhode Island dominated play throughout the beginning of the first half and had several quality shots on goal. The Rams could not capitalize, however, as Saint Joseph's senior goalkeeper Kevin Dougher (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) was outstanding in goal, stopping all of Rhode Island's scoring chances in the early going. Saint Joseph's got on the board first when senior Adam Duffy (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) started a breakaway down the middle of the field and fed a pass to fellow senior Andrew Kulinski (Turnersville, N.J./St. Augustine Prep), who put in a header to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead at the 10:57 mark. It would turn out to be SJU's only shot of the half as URI held an 11-1 margin in shots. The Hawks held the 1-0 lead at halftime. It was more of the same in the second half with the Rams putting a number of solid shots on goal against Dougher. The senior keeper kept SJU in the game, however, with 18 saves in regulation, including 10 in the second half alone. With time running out in regulation, sophomore captain Simon Gatti flicked a header down the right sideline where junior Emerson Aquilera collected it and fed a cross to sophomore Brian Mazza at the top of the box. Mazza then blasted a shot into the lower right corner of the net with just :03 left on the clock to knot the game at 1-1. The two teams ended regulation in a tie and played through 10 scoreless minutes in the first overtime. After several scoring chances by both teams in the second overtime, Rhode Island senior Perek Belleh provided the heroics when he took a ball at midfield for a breakaway between a pair of SJU defenders. Belleh then put a shot into the upper right corner of the net to give the Rams a 2-1 victory at the 109:00 mark. Sophomore Dean Ruddy made five saves in goal for Rhode Island while Dougher made a career-high 21 stops in net for Saint Joseph's, which has now played double overtime four times this year. The Hawks continue their New England swing and visit Massachusetts on Sunday at 1 p.m.