URI Men Top Yale

Balicki Scores OT Goal for Rams

Sept. 23, 2009

Junior Greg Balicki scored the overtime game-winner as the Rhode Island men�s soccer team rallied back from a first half deficit to take down Yale, 2-1, Tuesday night in New Haven.

Sophomore Erkko Puranen finished with a goal and an assist on the night.

Yale had taken an early lead when Brad Rose connected with Scott Armburst, who found the back of the net on a shot to the upper left corner.

Puranen nearly knotted the score just a minute into the second frame when his attempt ricocheted of the right post to keep the home team in front 1-0. He did, however, even things up less than 10 minutes later when he redirected a free kick by junior Andres Ruiz into the back right corner of the goal to make it a 1-1 game.

With the score still tied after 90 minutes of play, Yale came out and tested Rhode Island twice in the first two minutes of overtime. The Bulldogs first fired off a shot that was stopped by senior Chris Pennock before their next attempt was blocked by the Rhody defense.

The Rams finally put the game away at the 94:14 mark when Balicki blasted a shot into the top left corner for the 2-1 URI victory. Puranen picked up an assist on the play.

For the game, Rhode Island held a 15-10 advantage in shots and out-cornered the Bulldogs by a 6-3 margin. Pennock finished with one save on the night as the Rams� defense limited the Bulldogs to just two shots on goal.

The win - which snapped a three-game losing streak for the Rams - moves Rhode Island to 3-4 while Yale drops to 2-2-2.