The Rhode Island men's soccer team suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to Siena, 2-1, in double overtime Friday night at the URI Soccer Complex. Rhody tied the score early in the second half, but fell to the Saints after of 14:50 of overtime.
"We're a young team and there are still things we need to learn," said head coach John O'Connor. "Miscommunications, lapses in concentration and even the smallest of mistakes can - and will - lead to goals."
The Saints held onto their lead for the remainder of the half, but Rhody came back full force after the break and tied things up just over three minutes in. Junior defender Domenic Petrarca (Providence, R.I.) took the ball up the right side of the field and played a log cross up to sophomore forward Josh Sousa (Cumberland, R.I.). Sousa then maneuvered his way through the Saints' defense toward the goal before firing off a shot that Siena goalkeeper Steve Skonieczny was able to stop. However, senior forward Kedan Crosby (St. James, Trinidad) was there for the rebound, sending a shot past Skonieczny to tie things up a 1-1.
Crosby went on to take three of his game-high nine shots in the first overtime period, but his first attempt was blocked by a Siena defender and the next two were turned away by Skonieczny - including a diving save in the 95th minute.
The Saints took three shots of their own in the second overtime period and ended the game with a Mike DeSimone goal at 104:50. Matt Turcio took advantage of a breakdown in the Rhody defense and sent a pass to the front of the goal where DeSimone stuffed a shot past junior Chris Pennock (Middlesborough, England) for the 2-1 victory.
For the game, the Rams held a 26-13 shot advantage and out-cornered the Saints, 8-5. Pennock made four saves in net and took the loss, while Skonieczny's 10-save effort earned him the win.
The loss drops URI to 4-4-1 while Siena improves 2-5-1.
The Rams return to action on Sunday, October 12 when they open up their Atlantic 10 slate at home against Massachusetts. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.