By Michael Frere
The George Washington Revolutionaries (4-4-2) continue their A10 struggles as they fall short of victory against the Rhode Island Rams (4-7) in a 0-1 defeat on Senior Day.
GW Senior class receives their honors before the game (photo by GW athletics)
Both teams came out with pace as the game kicked off. GW focused heavily on the left side as Forward Tommaso Lami found success slipping through the Ram’s defense early on. Despite 5 shots in the first 15 minutes, GW wound up scoreless.
“We felt that we were getting a lot of joy in the wide areas. Our 1v1’s going out wide were really good,” said GW Head Coach Matt Watt.
Early on, GW and URI played physical and aggressive soccer. The Rams were able to gain an advantage on yellow cards as GW was assessed three in the first half. Despite this, GW found themselves up with possession throughout most of the first 20 minutes.
URI’s Midfielder Everson Goglia was able to find the goal at 21:55 from an assist by Sinan Bruning after slipping by the Revs defense. GW struggled to get the ball back and make attempts on the goal as the first half came to an close.
Once the second half started GW slowed the pace down to try and keep possession. GW’s adjustment found some success through the 60th minute as they were able to get 5 shots compared to URI’s 2.
GW was still unable to capitalize on the advantage in possession and shots. Part of this came from URI’s Goalkeeper William Synnestvedt’s stand out performance with 5 saves and 0 goals allowed.
“The keeper came for a lot of things, and plucked balls out of the air, did a really good job with that. But, on both sides of the pitch today, I just didn’t feel we had the quality we needed” Coach Watts said.
The Rev’s defensive second half adjustments worked as they were able to limit through balls that had been causing trouble throughout the first 45 minutes. GW’s defensive pressure kept URI to only 4 shots and 1 corner kick in the second half.
The physicality also kept up from both sides, with a scuffle in the 81st minute leading to URI’s Tiago Barrigunha receiving a red card and GW’s Luciano Zuniga receiving a yellow.
Coach Watts said this about Zuniga, “Sometimes those emotions get the best out of them, you know, he’s a young lad, he’s a freshman. We’ve spoken about it afterwards just now, and I thought he had a really good game from a football perspective.”
GW takes on VCU October 7th where George Washington looks to get its first conference win.
