The University of Rhode Island men’s soccer team extended its winless streak to four this week, falling to Loyola University Chicago in a 2-1 score on Saturday before being taken down by the College of the Holy Cross on Tuesday, 3-2.
Rhody hosted the Ramblers on Saturday afternoon, facing off against their second Atlantic 10 Conference opponent of the year, searching for their first conference win since Oct. 5, 2024.
Second-year goalkeeper Caleb McNeil had the start for the Rams, taking on the conference’s top goal scorer, Ramblers first-year forward Antonio Pinto.
Heading into the match, the Rams had allowed 29 shots in the last three games, 18 of those being on goal. On the offensive side, URI notched eight shots on goal in 24 attempts in its previous three games.
“We were just looking to stick to our game, get shots on goal,” URI Head Coach Gareth Elliott said.
While Rhody recorded the highest shots on goal of the season with seven, they were only able to find the back of the net once, in the 39th minute.
Ramblers second-year midfielder David Siemionko fouled Rhody first-year midfielder Sinan Bruning on the right wing near the 18-yard box, setting up a free kick.
First-year defender Sebastian Berntsen took the kick, sending the ball into the sea of players in the box, where URI fourth-year defender Tim Huhnholz sent a header across the goal line. This was Huhnholz’s first career goal with the Rams.
“I wasn’t aiming anywhere,” Huhnholz said. “I was just trying to be in the mix and get [the ball] on net.”
With only one minute remaining in the half, the Rams were just looking to wind the time down when Berntsen received a yellow card near the 18-yard box. Loyola first-year defender Joaquin Rodriguez sent the free kick into the box, where second-year defender Daniel Firs stuck his foot out and sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.
“I didn’t say much to them for the first time in a long time,” Elliott said regarding his message to the team at halftime. “It was a lucky break for [Loyola], so we just needed to regroup for the second half.”
Just two minutes into the second half, Rhody took their first of nine shots in the half, a low ball by first-year forward Kyler Vojvodic that was stopped by Loyola fourth-year goalkeeper Aidan Crawford.
URI began to pick up intensity on the offensive side of the field in the game’s final 15 minutes, as second-year forward Theo Harris and first-year midfielder Everson Goglia combined for three shots on goal in three minutes.
Despite this, in a controversial non-offsides call, Ramblers second-year forward Beck Rettenmaier sent a ball up the right wing to second-year midfielder Luka Ivancic, who dribbled in alone against McNeil and buried the ball in the back of the net to give Loyola its first lead of the match in the 83rd minute.
The Rams did not go down without a fight, as they earned three consecutive corner kicks in the 88th minute, but none were successful in helping tie the game.
Following the loss, the Rams traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts to take on the Crusaders on Tuesday night.
URI and Holy Cross traded goals in the first half, setting up a 2-2 game heading into halftime. Notching his second goal in as many games, Huhnholz started the scoring with a fifth-minute goal.
Following the game-tying goal in the 11th minute by the Crusaders, Vojvodic responded with a goal to retake the lead for Rhody. Holy Cross got its second ball past second-year goalkeeper William Synnestvedt in the 26th minute.
Despite notching nine shots in the second half, the Rams were unable to find the back of the net, unlike the Crusaders, who picked up the go-ahead goal scored by second-year midfielder Luka Ivancic in the 84th minute.
With two straight losses, the Rams dropped to 1-6-2 on the season.
After being off for a week, the Rams will return to the URI Soccer Complex on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Stony Brook University in search of their second win of the season.
