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.

12^th 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.

13^th minute – Daniels releases a wicked right-footed side volley from eighteen yards that the Adelphi goalkeeper manages to push over the bar.

14^th 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.

15^th 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.

16^th minute – Brown answers Coach Noonan’s rhetorical question by maintaining possession of the ball for long stretches of time and dominating their opponent.

20^th 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?”

35^th 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.

55^th 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.

61^st 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.

71^st minute – Adelphi steals back a goal off a corner kick and loose ball scramble.

90^th 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.