Brown 3, Columbia 2 (OT)

Friday - On the way to New York, the team stops at Mario's (an Italian restaurant in Westport, CT) for dinner. While parking, the bus driver rams the bus into a cement barrier. Without assessing the damage to bus or barrier, he pulls out from the restaurant and begins what should be a quick 45-minute jaunt to Tarrytown, NY. Three hours, fifteen minutes, and one very unhappy head coach later, the team finds the hotel. The path followed is so nonsensical that it simply had to be recreated here. Follow the team's amazing adventures by clicking "View Larger Map" below and reading the text bubbles. Like terror levels, bubble colors correspond to Coach Noonan's anger levels. Green = Happy, Yellow = Agitated, Red = Blistering Rage. Enjoy!


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Saturday - So, the word on Columbia was that they had thrown in the towel. Evidence would support this theory, as the Lions were 3-12-1 coming into the match and had lost their previous four games by a combined score of 15-5...(dots indicate ominous foreshadowing)

Warm-Up - Columbia's seniors are introduced to a small but vocal group of supporters. Having already been eliminated from the post-season, this will be the last game of their career.

1st minute - Columbia comes out playing like, well, it's the last game of their career. They are full of energy and fight, very unlike the team that had been scouted.

15th minute – During a quick counter-attack, Columbia plays the ball to its left striker, who cuts it back to the top of the eighteen yard box. A teammate sprints in and fires an inside-of-the-foot shot past a helpless Paul Grandstrand. Brown is still asleep, and it is 1-0 Columbia.

16th minute – Columbia decides that one goal should do it, and they spend the next thirty minutes slowly withdrawing from the Brown half like a Galapagos tortoise cautiously retracting its head.

17th – 45th minutes – Lots of Brown shots, no Brown goals.

Halftime – “If you panic, you will lose this game. Don't try to be the hero. Relax, pass the ball, and play soccer.” Sage advice from Coach Noonan.

46th minute – A much better-looking Brown team takes the field, and I don’t just mean that Jarrett Leech replaced Paul Grandstrand at halftime. Brown begins to move the ball crisply.

47th – 65th minutes – Brown has many, many, many chances but still cannot score.

71st minute – A corner kick eludes everyone and finds Chris Roland beyond the far post. He settles the ball and curls in a vicious cross, which Jon Okafor meets with a slashing run before volleying home at the near post. Finally, a 1-1 tie.

75th minute – Having drawn blood, Brown continues to surge forward. A nifty passing sequence culminates with a spectacular miskick by a Columbia defender, and T.J. Thompson pounces on his poor clearance to fire into the lower corner of the goal. 2-1 Brown. With the shot count at 17-4, surely victory must be Brown’s!

83rd minute – On just its second scoring chance of the half, Columbia launches the ball forward into the Brown penalty area from just inside midfield. A Columbia forward rises and somehow gets his head on the ball, popping it over both keeper and defender and into the open goal. 2-2 tie.

OT –The Columbia keeper makes several saves. One of them might have been the best save in the history of college soccer. I really can’t remember; it's all a blur.

2nd OT – Coach Noonan subs in Okafor and tells him to “get on the goalkeeper.” Darren Howerton puts a corner kick in the box, right on top of the keeper. Okafor leaps and appears to disrupt the keeper, who pushes the ball toward his own net. In the ensuing melee, the ball somehow finds its way into the net. 3-2 Brown, a golden goal.

Brown parents and alumni rush onto the field to celebrate the team’s win and perfect Ivy season. The 2007 Brown team becomes just the second Ivy League team in the past twenty years to post a 7-0 record in league play. A t-shirt to the first person to name the other.

Overall Record: 15-1-1
Ivy Record: 7-0
Next Game: Wednesday, November 28th @ 7 pm vs. Providence/Old Dominion