With the conference tournament beginning in two weeks, women’s soccer hopes to maintain their current playoff position. Photo Credit: Greg Clark.
The Rhode Island Men’s Soccer team continued their winning run on the road on Saturday, defeating Atlantic 10 rival Dayton for the first time since 2006, and picking up a crucial conference victory by a score of 1-0.
The Rams, coming off a huge 4-0 home victory against St. Bonaventure, hit the road to take on conference powerhouse Dayton, a team that Rhody doesn’t often have their way with. However, this match finally went in their favor.
The first half was the start that Rhode Island needed, when, in the 23rd minute, freshman standout Isak Oystese found himself on the end of a big goal kick from senior goalkeeper Stefan Schmidt and volleyed it over the keeper after a beautiful chest touch, making it 1-0 Rams.
The first half finished that way as the Rams defense was stingy, only allowing one shot in the first 45 minutes, eventually allowing just two shots on goal the whole night.
The second half was more of the same from the Rams as they were able to depend on their defense to hold onto their slight advantage. Schmidt was able to stop both of the shots he saw and defenders Vetle Nilsen, Jordan Koduah and Alberto Molina also held strong for the Rams as they were able to see the match through, winning 1-0.
The key to the victory, ultimately, was Rhody’s ability to defend, something that they struggled with in the two games prior to their shutout victory against St. Bonaventure. Coach Gareth Elliott was very pleased with how his team defended as a whole.
“We just got back to the basics,” Elliott said. “We took pride in defending and we defended as a team and, whenever you do that, you always have a chance to win the game.”
Due to that defending, Schmidt was able to take home Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week honors and he has collected two clean sheets during the team’s two-game winning streak.
Offensively, Oystese scored his fifth goal of the season, helping him earn Atlantic 10 Rookie of the week honors for a league-best fourth time. Oystese has really enjoyed the camaraderie amongst the team thus far and attributes that as a reason for the great start to his Rhody career.
“We do everything together,” Oystese said. “The chemistry we have off the field lets me do what I do on the field without worrying about my teammates.”
The Rams will look to continue this hot streak as they approach their last four games of the season, including matchups against defending A-10 champion Fordham and 14th ranked Saint Louis.
In terms of their ability to keep their hot streak going, Elliott said the key is to stick to what they have been doing.
“We have to stick to the basics,” Elliott said. “We need to continue to train hard every day and stick to what we know because these next few games are going to be a great challenge.”
In regards to the faith that they can do that, Oystese feels very confident in his squad.
“We have been training very hard lately,” Oystese said. “We just need to continue to do that and build chemistry and we will do well.”
The first game of this final stretch will take place Saturday when the Rams will look to push their winning streak to three against Fordham at home on ESPN+. Kick off is slated for 7 p.m.