RICHMOND at Rhode Island
Friday, Oct. 28 - 7 p.m.
URI Soccer Complex - Kingston,
R.I.
Rams lead series 6-2-3
RICHMOND at Massachusetts
Sunday, Oct. 30 - 12 p.m.
Rudd Field - Amherst, Mass.
Minutemen lead series 3-1-1
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond men's soccer team heads northward this weekend to take on Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The Spiders face the Rams on Friday at 7 p.m. before matching up with the Minutemen on Sunday at Noon.
LAST TIME OUT
Following a scoreless first half, Richmond (2-11-1, 1-4-0 A-10) allowed a pair
of second-half scores in a 2-0 loss to George Washington on Saturday. The
Spiders fell behind the Colonials in the 58th minute when junior forward Seth
Rudolph connected on a cross from senior forward Yoni Berhanu and delivered a
header past Spider goalkeeper Zac Brown (St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Academy) for
the game's first goal. Colonials' junior midfielder Mattia Melillo added an
insurance score in the 82nd minute, beating Brown in a 1-on-1 to put GW up,
2-0.
Sophomore midfielder Luis Perez (Pittsboro, N.C./Jordan-Matthews) led the Spiders with three shots, including a penalty kick attempt that soared wide in the 83rd minute, with older brother Jayson Perez posting a pair of shots on the day.
Brown secured three saves in the match, while Colonials' keeper Brendan Laffery came away with one in earning the win. GW held a 16-7 advantage in shots and finished the afternoon with a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.
SPIDERS BY THE STATS
Spider underclassmen continue to lead the team in the stats
column this season. Freshman forward Timmy Albright (Richmond, Va./Collegiate
School) and sophomore Spencer Schiff (Clemson, S.C./D.W. Daniel) lead the
Spiders with 10 points apiece. Albright paces the squad with four scores and
ranks eighth in the A-10 with 0.36 goals per game, while Schiff's four assists
marks a team high and rank sixth in the league.
Freshman Sean Baker (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) and sophomore Luis Perez (Pittsboro, N.C./Jordan-Matthews) have each secured six points on three goals, while freshman defender Colby Abrahamoff (Davie, Fla./American Heritage School) has recorded six points on two goals and a pair of helpers.
Rookie goalkeeper Thomas Hand (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) has recorded 6.64 saves per game in nearly 1,000 minutes in net this season, which ranks second in the A-10 and third nationally.
SCOUTING THE RAMS
Rhode Island (5-9-1, 2-3-1 A-10) split
a pair of road matches last week. The Rams opened the weekend with a 2-1 win
over St. Bonaventure on Friday before suffering a 5-1 setback to Duquesne on
Sunday.
The Rams returns six starters from last season's squad that went 3-13-2 (1-7-1 A-10). Sophomore midfielder Joey Haught leads the team with eight points on three goals and an assist, while freshmen Ross Morison and Matt Sykes follow closely behind with seven points apiece. Senior goalkeeper Peyton Warwick has recorded 68 saves (.773 save %) and allowed 20 goals (1.34 GAA) in 15 games this fall.
Rhody holds a 6-2-3 lead in the all-time series with Richmond. The Rams shut out the Spiders, 2-0, the last time out in 2009.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
After dropping a 4-0 decision to Duquesne last Friday, UMass (4-10-2, 2-2-2 A-10) played St.
Bonaventure to a scoreless draw on Sunday.
The Minutemen welcome back seven starters from last year's squad that earned a 5-5-8 (4-2-3) record. Sophomore forward Brett Canepa paces the team with seven points on three goals and an assist. Freshman forward Josh Schwartz is the only other Minuteman to score multiple goals on the year with his pair of scores. Senior goalkeeper Shan Curran-Hays has allowed just 16 goals (1.07 GAA) and secured 66 saves (.805 save %) in 16 matches this season.
UMass owns a 3-1-3 lead in the all-time series with the Spiders, including a 2-1 overtime win in their last meeting in 2009.
