The University of Rhode Island men’s soccer team took home their first Atlantic 10 Conference win of the season on Saturday night, defeating St. Bonaventure University 4-3.
In a match where URI initially led 3-1, third-year Joan Sanchis scored the game winner in the 87th minute.
“It’s really disappointing to concede three goals in one game,” URI Head Coach Gareth Elliott said. “I just don’t think we did a good job defensively. We made some mistakes and some poor, poor decisions.”
The scoring started with third-year Íñigo Extegarai’s first goal in the ninth minute, one-timing a setup from fourth-year Isnaba Namussé off of third-year Keegan Walker’s free kick. The shot went low right side, out of the reach of Bonnies goalkeeper, third-year Nicolas Pucci.
Bonnie’s fourth-year forward Umechi Akuazaoku had two goals. His first came 125 seconds after Rhody’s to tie the game at 1-1. Akuazaoku collected the ball from second-year defender Callum Shillington outside of the 18-yard box and fired a shot past URI’s third-year goalkeeper Nate DiLoreto.
“We can’t give away soft goals,” Elliott said. “If you give away soft goals, you’re going to lose. We were lucky to find a way to win tonight.”
The Rams offense had a response of their own in the 13th minute, as third-year forward Mathias Taylor streaked down the right side of the field with the ball and sent a cross that deflected off of a Bonnies defender and into the back of the net.
Heading into the match, the Rams averaged 1.13 goals per game. A little over five minutes into the second half, Extegarai struck again with his second goal of the game, and his second of the season. Assisted by fourth-year forward Brandon Bermingham, Extegarai picked his spot just inside the right post, putting the Rams up 3-1.
“Earlier on the season we were a little bit tighter defensively and we weren’t giving up a lot of goals,” Elliott said. “Now we’re scoring more goals, so we’ve got to combine the two together.”
Shillington’s second assist of the game came by setting up sixth-year Mo Tall deep inside of the 18-yard box, as Tall used the proximity to his advantage to elevate the ball over DiLoreto and make it a one-goal game in the 55th minute.
“I think the team has to learn that when we score, we can’t give the opportunity to the other team to score quickly,” Sanchis said.
In the 72nd minute second-year Lucas Lykkegaard and second-year Nikos Clarke-Tosczak picked up yellow cards and DiLoreto prepared for a Bonnies direct kick right outside of the 18-yard box.
Fourth-year Kenzo Brito took the kick for the Bonnies, hitting the crossbar and bouncing back out to the crowd of players, where Akauzaoku sent a header back towards the net and past DiLoreto, tying the game 3-3.
“When you’ve got a two-goal lead and you give that away, a lot of times you don’t come back,” Elliott said.
Following the goal, DiLoreto was forced to make three consecutive stops in as many minutes, including a last-second leg save after Akuazaoku split the Rhody defense and got the shot off from inside the 18-yard box in the 74th minute.
Three Rams corner kicks in the 80th minute onward did not produce any direct goals, but kept possession in the hosts’ offensive side of the field. Second-year defender Nate Yurkovic sent a cross into the box, where Sanchis only needed one touch to put the ball into the back of the net.
“[It was an] amazing feeling, I just ran and looked at my friends in the stands and then I saw my teammates coming to hug me, it was incredible,” Sanchis said.
The win was URI’s second in a row heading into Tuesday night’s matchup with Bryant University, with both teams winning six games ahead of the contest. Rhody recorded their fifth shutout of the season against the 6-2-2 Bulldogs, drawing 0-0.
In fourth-year Edu Rodriguez’s seventh start of the season, he posted his fourth shutout, making one save. The Rams outshot the Bulldogs 13-7 in the contest, with Bryant goalkeeper Antreas Hadjigavriel making six saves. Bermingham led the Rams in shots with three.
The Rams get back into conference play when they travel to Chicago on Saturday at 3 p.m. to face off against Loyola University Chicago. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.