Brown Prevails Over Yale...

Following a three game win streak, BMS packed their bags and started towards the dismal land of New Haven, Connecticut, home of the Yale Dawgs (as seen in the Yale athletic center).   Half way through the journey, the team took a pit stop at a “ristorante” booked by possibly Italian assistant coach Kevin Nuss.  The chicken parm turned out to be impeccable, but in an interview with Sicilian team member Mike Leone, he claimed that the tomato sauce was “a little more thick and tomato-y” than his mother’s famous sauce.   Bathroom breaks by Alex Markes and Ben Maurey held up the team for a short period of time after lunch, but full bellies left the team ready for the game in a few hours. 

Upon arriving at Yale’s facilities, the team went into the locker room/fallout shelter (yes, there was a sign showing it is a fallout shelter) and got ready for the game. With pump-up music playing in the travel speakers, the team was now 100% focused on the game at hand. 

  

Walking onto the field behind the home side, the atmosphere was electric with parents’ and students’ cheers for the coming of Yale’s senior appreciation ceremony.  Though the home side roared on, the stoic Brown squad was unphased.  On top of the home crowd, hecklers began to congregate behind the goal of Josh Weiner and the stage was set for game time. 

  

The Bears came out with energy headed by center forward Nate Pomeroy and wingers Pepe Salama and Daniel Taylor.  Five minutes into the game, DT got pulled down off a pass from Nate and the Bears set up their set piece with “The Spaniard” Pepe on the ball.  Whipping the ball in six yards out from the goal, Tariq Akeel displayed a killer vertical and headed the ball in near post, beating his defender.  

Three minutes later, Akeel scored a mirror image header from a free kick served by Jack Gorab on the other side of the field.  After a 25 minute sequence of back-and-forth play, Brown failed to clear after a pinball sequence of crosses by Yale. With a ball bouncing outside the box, a Yale player finished with a volley from 20 yards out.  Responding before halftime, senior Voltaire Escalona beat a Yale defender in a sequence of challenges and distributed centrally to Jack Gorab who tucked the ball away with class off the far post and in.  Going in to half time, the team felt great and was riding momentum.  The second half proved that Brown could hold off many Yale attacks and pressure a tired Yale squad, holding a 3-1 victory for Brown.  The forwards’ work rate kept constant pressure on the Yale Defense, the intricate play of BMS midfield controlled a majority of the game play, and the Brown defense consisting of Alex Markes, Tim Whalen, Mike Leone, and Jameson Lochead weathered almost everything Yale could throw at them.  Leaving a devastated Yale squad behind, Brown left New Haven while jiving to the Miley Cyrus song, “Party in the USA”.

  

From the class of 2017 to you, stay classy. 

Erik “Long Limbs” Hanson, Mike “Italian Job” Leone, Nate “Pom Pom” Pomeroy, Josh “Butts” Butler, and Tyler “Tyler” Long Ya'll.

Welcome Penn, to the Bears' Den...

Riding a short wave of momentum after an important, away victory at the freezing land of Siberia aka Ithaca, followed by an inspirational home win against a good Boston College squad, BMS was preparing for what was being dubbed as “the most important game of the season” (although it seems like we say that every time). But in reality, we had a short week to prepare for the Penn Quakers, who stood in the coveted top spot of the Ancient Eight. Knowing that we could implement our passing game against a solid Penn team, the boys had a great mentality going into the Saturday afternoon game on Stevenson. The weather was just about as perfect as Providence can be in early November and the stage was set for the Bears to once again prove our might in the Ivy League.

 

After a ridiculously hectic and fast-paced few minutes to start the game, we began to settle down and play our game. Tim “Timmy Tammers” Whalen couldn’t capitalize on a free header in the box from a patented Lochhead free kick. Then, Jack “G Babe” Gorab had his point-blank diving header blocked by the Penn keeper. We were on the offensive for a while, when finally Voltaire “V” Escalona took a great entry ball from Markes, turned and found himself in a vast expanse of real estate and ripped a rocket into the bottom right corner of the goal with his left foot. Bears 1- Quakers 0.We would finish the half with the shutout still intact and with our lead at one.

  

We came out in the second half a bit on our heels. The game became very direct and we struggled to settle down and get the ball back on the ground. For 20 minutes, we battled defensively against a number of corners and set pieces – bending but not breaking. We were able to get some possession back and create some of our own attacks, but we never fully got our feet back under us and Penn was able to net a goal of their own in the 78^th minute. The last 12 minutes were exciting, but regulation ended in a draw and we were on to overtime.

  

With a record of 4-1-1 at Stevenson going into this game, we were determined to come out with three points, whether it took 20 seconds or 20 minutes. It took 14 minutes and 23 seconds. In the second overtime, the ball was played out to Markes on the right side, who cut in on his left foot and played an early service past the back post. Tariq Akeel ran down the ball before it went out of bounds and then proceeded to give Penn’s right back the boogies. Playing through his fatigue, Akeel did a lot of scissor moves, roll-overs, pull backs, and dances until he miraculously found his balance and slotted the ball to Daniel “DT” Taylor at the top of the box and the rest is history. DT’s curling strike past the outstretched keeper was a thing of beauty and just another Bruno victory.

 

The boys will try to keep riding this 3-game win streak into gun-blazin’ New Haven and take down the Bulldogs of Yale in a crucial Ivy match that pits two teams wishing to keep their title hopes alive.

  

Signing out,

Tim, Tariq, Jack, and Michel ‘16

Last Out Of Conference Game a Showdown with the Team from Title Town...

When facing a team in the ACC you always know what you can expect… A battle. With lots of experience (college & international), and some of the best skill in the country ACC teams are no joke. For these reasons we always look forward to the Boston College game every year. It may not be a conference game, but it is certainly one of the more important games of the year. 

This past weekend we showed we could beat Cornell, who was a team that doesn’t play soccer but tries to just win off of pure athleticism and set pieces. But against BC we know that we are in for a real soccer game. It was a totally new challenge that we wanted to prove we could handle just as well. 

The game started and right away we saw the difference between the two teams. Crisp passing, movement, both Brown and BC were showing some soccer the way it is supposed to be played. BC might've been the most technical team we had played all year and we knew to beat them we’d have to keep the ball moving as well. 

 

And low and be hold who better to score than the dazzling Spaniard Pepchino early in the first half. Daniel Taylor sliced and diced through defenders with his pigeon-toed feet splashing in the rubber pellets of the turf only to dish the ball off to Pepe at the perfect moment for the finish.

Followed gorgeously by Tyler Long who opened an account with the collegiate scoring bank with a shot he buried just under the crossbar after picking the pocket of a BC defender and receiving a pass from Senior Escalona. Tyler Long celebrates after scoring while waving to his family watching at home.

 Even with a two goal lead we couldn’t take a break because BC is a true attacking threat at any time. Without a few clutch saves from Weiner and some post hits they could have easily recovered from the 2-0 deficit before half. The second half was just as intense with both sides trying to get that next goal. We were able to keep the clean sheet until 40 seconds left in the game when a cross floated from the right was deflected in to stop the shutout, but by then it was too late for the Golden Eagles who now dropped below .500 thanks to us. 

It was a well fought game with the whole team playing well and some key players stepping up. JL is filling into his new position well and had a great performance along with the rest of the back line. Nate Pomeroy & Voltaire might not have scored but they were just as crucial to our success.

 This game proves that we can compete with any team in the country and we would like to keep the streak alive so come out this Saturday and support your favorite Bears as we look to take down the Penn Quakers.

-The B-Squad (DT, Tom, Ben, Mitch, Alex)

Big Red, Meet Big Brown Bear...

An early departure from campus on Friday meant many of the guys were lucky enough to miss some afternoon classes (excused absences, of course). We hit the road at around 12pm, with some chicken fingers from the V-Dub and tons of snacks provided by Coach Jason. We also had Jack Hayes, the athletic director at Brown, traveling with us, so each guy was on his very best behavior, including Coach Laughlin. The trip up to Ithaca, New York is a very long one, so we split it up, stopping in beautiful Albany to get a quick training session in. We weren’t really in the heart of the city of Albany, but more in the rural, upstate New Yorkish area. We finally arrived at the soccer complex about 3-4 hours into the trip and finally were able to get off the bus and stretch our legs a bit. Training went well, with the classic one touch game ending in a not-so-classic way. Coach Laughlin joined in this time and ended the game with some quick one-two passing with Edu, followed by a toe poke goal and celebration that ended on the ground with him taking his cleats off and demanding “GAME OVER.”

            

We all quickly changed out of our cleats and shinnys and grabbed a Panera sandwich as we got back on the bus. The rest of the trip consisted of Oceans 11 and 12 and felt almost twice as long as the first half of it. FINALLY, after twisting and turning through the slim streets of Cornell’s campus and of the city of Ithaca, we arrived at our hotel. We ended the night with some pizza and some thoughts on Cornell and we all got into bed focused on the game to come. 

  

We knew that the game at Cornell would be a difficult task, as playing an Ivy League opponent that has an average height of 6 feet 9 inches always is, especially at their home field. When we took the field it was a balmy 39 degrees. From the first whistle Cornell was right on top of us trying to transform the game into their kickball type game that they like to play, trying to get as many set pieces, throw-ins and second chance knock-down opportunities from those as possible. In the opening 44 and a half minutes we were outshot by Cornell, but with 20 seconds left in the half we broke though. DT sent a beautiful ball into Tariq and he snuck it right inside of the near post. Mayhem ensued. After a tense 20 seconds, we made it into half time with a 1-0 lead.

           

 We prepared ourselves at half-time for the barrage of long-balls and difficult play that we knew was ahead of us in the second half, and dug back in. Despite being outshot 25-5 on the game, we held tough in the back and did what Brown Men’s Soccer has become synonymous with doing: “Defending the Alamo”. We blocked a ton of shots and pulled a few balls off of the line to preserve the shutout. In the end, we were able to walk away from the field with our heads held high, getting our first road victory of the season. 

  

The victory against Cornell felt truly rewarding. After saluting our fans, we headed off the field into the locker room.

After showering and packing all our gear, we all headed to the bus, where some of our most faithful supporters were awaiting us with some yummy sandwiches and other pastries for the long trip back. Once in the bus and ready to go home, the guys started to search for a comfortable position that would allow them to get some rest. Some of the most experienced guys brought their own pillows from home, while others were using their thick winter coats instead. After a short period of repose, the action came back to the bus. After such an important victory, it was by no means time to go to sleep yet. The T squad (sophomores) gathered around Tariq’s seat and started the chat, everyone in the bus was awake by now. Soon after that, some of the members of the team delighted us with some of the best music performances ever seen. Tom Arns absolutely won the conquest, whilst coach Nuss had a pretty disappointing showing; couldn’t handle the pressure and forgot some of the lyrics. Before getting back to Browntown, we watched Oceans 13, finally finishing the whole saga.

The team is now ready to host Penn at Stevenson on Saturday at 4pm, thank you very much to all of our supporters!!

Jack, Josh and Pepe