The University of Rhode Island men's soccer squad posted an impressive 3-1 victory against La Salle in an Atlantic 10 contest at the URI Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon. The game was played in poor field conditions as a steady rain fell during the entire contest.
Rhode Island jumped on the board first when senior Conor Lander put a shot on goal that was blocked by a La Salle defender. Fellow senior Perek Belleh collected the rebound and blasted a shot into the in the back of the net from 10 yards out to give the Rams a 1-0 lead at the 6:56 mark. URI extended its lead when junior Sasha Gotsmanov put in a rebounded shot to give the Rams a 2-0 at the 23:22 mark. La Salle responded quickly, however, when Josh France took a corner kick, crossed it to the far post where junior Jim Bradley (Chelfant, PA/Central Bucks West) put a shot into the lower right corner of the net to cut the lead to 2-1 at the 25:34 mark. The Rams took a one goal lead into halftime.
The two teams battled back and forth early in the second half before the Rams added an insurance goal late when Gotsmanov started a breakaway down the middle of the field and found a streaking Reuben Ray who lofted a shot over the La Salle keeper Stash Graham (Tampa, FL/Jesuit) head to give the Rams a 3-1 advantage at the 83:07 mark. URI then held on for the 3-1 victory.
Rhode Island sophomore Dean Ruddy made two saves in the win, while Graham had five stops in the setback for La Salle.
With the win Rhode Island improves to 6-8-1, 2-3-1 in the Atlantic 10 while La Salle falls to 3-8-3, 1-5-0 in league action. The Explorers will continue action as they host Dayton this Friday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m. and then Xavier on Sunday the 26th at 1:00 p.m.
Game Summary
LU (3-8-3, 1-5-0 A-10) 1 0 -- 1
URI (6-8-1, 2-3-1 A-10) 2 1 -- 3
6:56 URI Perek Belleh (Conor Lander)
23:22 URI Sasha Gotsmanov (Unassisted)
25:34 LU Bill Cosentino (Josh France)
83:07 URI Reuben Ray (Sasha Gotsmanov)
