The Brown Men’s Soccer season came to a dramatic end this past Wednesday evening as the Bears were defeated by the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils 2-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Despite looking like the better team for much of the second half, the Bears couldn’t muster a goal against Duke’s stingy defense. Brown finishes the 2006 season with an 11-5-3 record, and seniors Ben Brackett, Andrew Daniels, Brian Joyce, Alexan Simon, Dave Semenza, Jamie Granger and Ian Premo conclude their impressive Brown careers with two Ivy League titles, three NCAA Tournament appearances, and a lifetime of Brown Soccer memories.
Now, here is your post-game report:
Tuesday evening: The team flies to Durham, NC and has dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Brown athletic trainer (and UNC alum) Matt Culp, who frequently professes his love for south-of-the-border cuisine, finds himself overly excited to be back at a Mexican restaurant in North Carolina and puts on an eating display that will be talked about for many years to come. In one sitting, he devours a three-person, three-course meal (called “El Combo”) without taking a breath. Then, after earning a new level of respect from the players, coaches, and restaurant staff, he is affectionately dubbed Culpayashi, a reference to competitive eating champion Takeru Kobayashi.
Warm-Ups: After three days of training, watching film, and waiting for their shot at the #1 team in the country, Brown takes the field as Duke’s impressive sound system pumps out the hits.
1st minute – As the Cameron Crazies eventually find their way to the soccer stadium, Duke comes out looking poised and confident, and they gain an early territorial advantage. Every Duke throw-in is taken by their right defender, who launches the ball into the Brown penalty area from virtually every part of the field.
20th minute – Steve Sawyer curls a dangerous cross into the Duke penalty area, where Jamie Granger ’06.5 slips by his defender and sprints across the face of the goal, narrowly missing the ball before it is gobbled up by the Blue Devil keeper.
27th minute - Duke lobs a cross into the Brown penalty area, where it lands perfectly on the foot of their playmaking central midfielder, Michael Videira. Videira takes two touches with his right foot and smashes the ball home with his left foot from close range. 1-0 Duke.
34th minute – Nick-Elenz Martin ’10 gets the crowd up and out of their seats with a twenty-yard volley that just barely misses the upper left corner. Close!
40th minute – A poorly hit forward pass somehow finds its way through two Brown players and sends Duke’s All-American forward Mike Grella scampering through on goal. He beats goalkeeper Jarrett Leech with a delicate chip, but the ball rolls wide of the goal.
HALFTIME – Coach Noonan congratulates the team on their near-perfect execution of the game plan—they conceded just two scoring chances in the first half, and created several opportunities for themselves. Keep it up in the second half, boys!
48th minute – After dominating Duke’s 6’5” forward in the air throughout the first half, Super Rhett Bernstein ’08 goes in on a 50-50 ball with a Duke player. The ball takes a favorable Duke bounce, leaving Mike Grella free to run at the Brown goal. He fakes a shot, cuts it to his left foot, and buries the ball into the lower left corner of the net. 2-0 Duke.
49th minute – Brown immediately switches to a more offensive 4-4-2 formation, inserting Laurent Manuel ’08 as an offensive right back.
50th -75th minutes – Brown dominates the Blue Devils, stringing together pass after pass after pass. Andrew Daniels skins a player down the right wing and crosses a dangerous ball across the face of goal, where it is fired just wide, Dylan Sheehan ’09 and Nick Elenz-Martin nearly combine for a goal, Brian Joyce battles and scraps with great success in midfield, and several Brown free kicks result in dangerous balls in the Duke box. But nothing will go in.
76th minute – Like a veteran team, the Blue Devils begin to slow down the pace of the game, taking their time on throw-ins and making numerous substitutions. They also regain possession of the ball for long stretches of time, further frustrating the Brown players and their anxious fans.
88th minute – Brown musters a few final forays forward, but still cannot break down Duke’s defense.
90th minute – The clock counts down to zero, ending the game and closing the books on the 2006 Brown Men’s Soccer season. Summing up the general sentiment of the team, Kevin Davies ’08 remarks, “The most frustrating thing was that they weren’t even that dominant!” In their traditional team huddle, senior Ian Premo tells the younger players to remember this feeling for future motivation, and then reminds the older players that it isn’t really about the wins or losses, it’s about the experience and the relationships that will last a lifetime.
Final Score: Brown 0, Duke 2
Overall Record: 11-5-3
Next Match: September, 2007
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Monday, November 13, 2006
NCAA Tournament: Brown 4, Adelphi 1
The Brown Men’s Soccer Team defeated Adelphi 4-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this weekend, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Stevenson Field. The hero of the day was Andrew Daniels ’07 who scored a hat trick—all with his head—to become the leading goal scorer in the NCAA Tournament thus far. Nick Elenz-Martin ‘10 also scored for the Bears, while Jarrett Leech played the majority of the game in goal. Brown now travels to play the #1 seeded Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday evening in the second round of the tournament.*
* Brown is 1-0 against Duke in the NCAA tournament since 2000 and are looking to improve on this record.
Now, here is your post-game report:
An hour before kickoff – Several families and a contingent of Brown students fire up their grills in the parking lot and enjoy some rock ‘n roll and a few “college sodas.”
Introductions – There are eleven players lined up from left to right. One is wearing a black uniform and ten are wearing yellow and black uniforms, reminiscent of my first travel soccer team in 1988, the Traverse City Hawks. Among this group, there are three Defenders, five Midfielders, two Forwards, and one Goalkeeper, some of whom appear slightly out of shape. There are nine Undergraduate students and two Graduate students, one Jamaican, one Brazilian, one Englishman, one Irishman, one Cypressian and six Americans. Applying the following rules, see if you can line up these Adelphi players from left to right:
- Every Defender must be next to at least one other Defender
- No Forward may be to the right of any Midfielder, and no Defender may be to the left of any Midfielder
- Every foreign player must have an American immediately to his right and immediately to his left
- Exactly one forward, two midfielders, and two defenders are foreigners
- From left to right, the foreign players appear in the same order in which their countries appear on a world map, from west to east
-The goalkeeper, who appears to be thirty years-old, is wearing a black jersey and is on one end
Kickoff – With NCAA Tournament banners lining the sidelines and fans streaming into the bleachers, the Bears come out flying. They immediately put Adelphi under pressure and maintain possession of the ball deep in the Panthers’ end.
12th minute – Left midfielder Chris Roland ’10 streaks down the left wing and whips in a beautiful cross that finds striker Andrew Daniels ’07 sprinting through the middle. Without breaking stride, Daniels redirects the ball with his head low to the far post. Again without breaking stride, Daniels curls to his left, toward the student section to celebrate. 1-0 Brown.
13th minute – Daniels releases a wicked right-footed side volley from eighteen yards that the Adelphi goalkeeper manages to push over the bar.
14th minute –Brian Joyce ’07 bends a corner kick to the far post, where Ben Brackett ’07 calls off his center back partner, Rhett Bernstein ’09 (keep in mind that convincing Bernstein to NOT head the ball is quite an accomplishment). Brackett heads the ball across the face of goal, where it is knocked down, bounces around like popcorn, and is knocked into the net by Nick Elenz-Martin. 2-0 Brown.
15th minute – Brian Joyce ’07 curls in another corner kick, this time to the near post. Daniels leaps high and places a tight-angled header across the goalmouth and into the far side netting. Coach Noonan looks down the bench and remarks, “Well, we didn’t count on this happening. What do we do now?” 3-0 Brown.
16th minute – Brown answers Coach Noonan’s rhetorical question by maintaining possession of the ball for long stretches of time and dominating their opponent.
20th minute – With a rout seemingly underway, Brown hecklers begin to get even more vocal. As Chris Roland ’10 beats his man with a sharp cut to the inside, fans chant “He’s a freshman! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap).”
Best Signs: “Andrew Daniels is chiseled from marble.” “Ben Brackett is a golden god.” “What’s Adelphi?”
35th minute – Adelphi battle back and create a handful of scoring opportunities late in the first half.
Halftime – Coach Noonan congratulates the team on “the best start I’ve seen in my twelve years at Brown” but reminds the team they must keep the level high in the second half.
55th minute – Brown performs some beautiful combination play, releasing Laurent Manuel ’08 down the right wing. On a near-breakaway, Manuel plays the ball across the face of the goal to a wide open Chris Roland ’10. In a play that he might never live down, Roland elects not to drive the ball first-time into the open net, but rather traps it, lets the goalie get back into position, and passes it slowly into his hands.
61st minute – Ian Premo ’07 collects the ball on the right wing, beats his man to the inside with a step-over move and serves the ball with his left foot. It lands perfectly on the head of Daniels, who powers a header off the crossbar before collecting his own rebound and casually knocking it into the net. Then, he does what any player would do after scoring a hat trick in the NCAA Tournament—a cartwheel. 4-0 Brown.
71st minute – Adelphi steals back a goal off a corner kick and loose ball scramble.
90th minute – The final whistle sounds and Brown players salute their fans, who have been treated to quite a crowd-pleaser. After a shower and a press conference, they enjoy some post-game food with their parents, courtesy of the indefatigable Paul Granger, and begin to prepare for Duke.
Final Score: Brown 4, Adelphi 1
Next Match: Wednesday, November 13 @ #1 seeded Duke, 7 p.m.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Brown 0, Yale 1
For sixty minutes, the Brown Men’s Soccer Team looked lethargic, and they fell behind by a goal to Ivy rivals Yale. Then, for thirty minutes, the Bears came to life and dominated their opponents, only to see chance after chance fail to score. The result was a 1-0 loss at home on senior day, a loss that ended the Bears’ regular season with a 10-4-3 record, 3-2-2 in the Ivy League. They now eagerly await the NCAA Tournament selection show, scheduled for 4 p.m. today.
Now, here is your post-game report:
Warm-Up –Instead of the usual warm-up CD, the teams stretch to the sounds of a Fox Soccer Channel broadcaster doing the same take approximately sixteen times. “Today we travel to
Kickoff – The stands fill with Brown students donning their new “Beat Yale” t-shirts, over heavy sweatshirts and winter coats. As the stands fill, the temperature continues to fall, and alumni gather inside the heated Brown Sports Foundation tent, next to the field.
1st minute – Before a large crowd and a national television audience, both teams come out looking a bit nervous, and they move the ball quickly from side to side. Some aggressive early defending leads to several fouls.
4th minute – As the game settles down, Brown players grow confused and think that “out of bounds” is actually a player on their team, and they pass him the ball repeatedly.
17th minute – In one of just two first-half scoring chances, the Bears run a set piece that finds Ben Brackett ’07 at the back post. His first-time right foot volley off a chipped ball flies hard into the outside of the net.
43rd minute – A Yale player breaks down the left wing and curls the ball into the middle, where it finds a streaking Yale forward. The player’s header flies into the upper left corner of the net, off the fingertips of sprawling Brown goalkeeper Jarrett Leech ’09. The player sprints to his bench and performs one of the most, um, upsetting celebrations in Ivy League soccer history. Picture this: A grown man in a soccer uniform gyrating like a belly dancer with flaccid tentacles, and then falling to the ground. Seriously. 1-0 Yale.
45th minute – After witnessing forty-five minutes of (mainly) turnovers, missed passes, and fouls, the national television audience heads to the bathroom and shoves a finger down its collective throat.
46th minute –Brown picks it up in the second half.
57th minute – On the right wing, Ian Premo ’07 beats a player with a clever step-over and curls in a perfect cross, only to see it punched away by the keeper.
66th minute – Brian Joyce ’07 serves in a beautiful corner and Rhett Bernstein ’09 who, as he always does, leaps high and wins the header. With the keeper out of position and a wide open goal, Bernstein smashes it just inches over the crossbar.
72nd minute – Andrew Daniels’07 turns a defender near the end-line and serves in a laser. Dylan Sheehan ’09 heads just wide of the left post.
78th minute – Daniels beats two players down the right flank and crosses the ball into the middle. This time, it is knocked down among a crowd of players, where Steve Sawyer finds himself seated on a Sit-n’-Spin®. Turning the wheel of his large plastic toy, he rotates his body to the left and hits a seated volley from point blank range, only to see it saved by the keeper.
88th minute – Daniels beats yet another player and serves yet another ball into the box. This time, Sheehan flicks it behind his left leg toward the lower left corner of the net. Attempting to help the ball into the net, Jamie Granger ’06.5 accidentally pushes it into the goalie, and the ball somehow manages to stay out of the goal.
90th minute – The final whistle blows, and the Bears applaud the large contingent of fans who braved the cold to support their seniors and their team. Showing an even steelier perseverance, Brown parents attend a post-game reception in the now sub-zero temperatures, held next to the field. Coach Noonan acknowledges and congratulates the seniors on a fine career at Brown, and tells them (and everyone else) that it isn’t over yet. It’s time to get ready for the selection show on Monday.
Final Score: Brown 0, Yale 1
Overall Record: 10-4-3
Ivy Record: 3-2-2
Next Match: ? ? ? (Selection show on Monday, November 6th at 4 p.m.)
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