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
78th 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
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