Positives:
- The Rhode Island basketball team’s exhibition win over the St. Thomas Aquinas was simply a tune-up for the team, but Rhode Island showed a more potent offensive arsenal, with newcomers Four McGlynn and Christion Thompson each hitting a pair of threes. The outside shot was a major weakness for Rhody last season. However, as previously stated, don’t put too much stock into a win against a Division II opponent.
- The URI men’s soccer team’s overall season on defense deserves praise as they allowed just three teams all year to score more than one goal on them. The defense was led by sophomore goalie Nils Leifhelm, who was an Atlantic 10 All-Preseason selection and has done nothing to dispel the notion of his elite status this season.
- The Rhode Island women’s volleyball team defeating Fordham is a perfect example of handling your business and winning games you need to win. The Rams beat Fordham, who sit in second-to-last place in the Atlantic 10 standings, to stay in third place. Rhody now has a big game against VCU this coming weekend as they sit just one game behind URI.
Negatives:
- The Rhody men’s soccer team falling against George Mason to set up a four-way tie for fourth place in the Atlantic 10. With the loss the Rams fall to sixth place in the Atlantic 10 Championship standings. The Rams now will face Saint Louis in the quarterfinals, but have to be kicking themselves to know they could have avoided the tie with a victory against GMU.
- The URI football team’s performance against Villanova was definitely a tough one to watch as the Rams gave up 284 yards on the ground, and threw four interceptions on the day. The four interceptions buck the recent trend of limiting turnovers and penalties for the Rams as they had four interceptions in their last four games combined. Â
Players of the Week:
Nils Leifhelm (2-1 loss @ George Mason) – Leifhelm gave up more than one goal for the third time all year, but this is more indicative of his season as a whole. The Rams are lucky to have him in the net as he gives them a good chance to win against anyone.
Callan Kinnan (3-1 win @ Fordham) – The junior had another superb game finishing with 12 digs, 41 assists, four kills and three blocks, helping the team win a back-and-forth game that they should have won.
Adam Parker (24-3 loss vs Villanova) – Parker finished with a team-leading eight tackles, as well as his second sack. He also led a defense that, despite four turnovers by the Rhody offense, gave up just three points off those turnovers.
Team of the Week: URI men’s basketball (100-77 win vs St. Thomas Aquinas) – The Rams avoided falling victim to looking ahead to the next game on the schedule when they crushed their tune-up game.
Off the Record:  Despite seeing Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner and Kyle Arrington leave this offseason the Patriots have responded playing with more safeties and possessing three of top 15 rated safeties in the entire NFL (Harmon, Chung, McCourty). They also have the NFL’s sack leader with Chandler Jones having 9 1/2 sacks.