Going with the Flow with Greg Cochrane
October 18, 2012 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 18, 2012
Louisville, Ky. - It was finally Saturday and everyone was reading for the big televised game on Fox Soccer Channel against St. John's. This game was very important since it was a BIG EAST Game, with the Red Storm sitting right behind us.
It didn't take long before we went up 1-0. After connecting about 16 passes, Paolo DelPiccolo played through on a long ball. With his blazing speed, he got to it before the defender and laid it back to Buck Tufty. Tufty crossed it to Marlon Hairston, who laid it off for Will Vitalis. From there, Will made no mistake and put it past the keeper.
The game went back and forth, but in the end we came out of with a 1-0 win! For most of us, this was the first time winning on Fox Soccer, which was pretty cool. For me in particular, this was my first win on national TV on any station in about eight tries. It is nice to finally get the monkey off the back.
We had a few days to recover before heading off to South Florida for another big game, this time on ESPNU. Thankfully we were flying Southwest and not United, as last time with United was a disaster. With Southwest, we got to pick our own seats, which is a plus.
While waiting in the terminal to board the plan, people will try to do whatever to stay entertained. Ryan Smith probably had the most fun. First, when Paolo fell asleep, Ryan took a bunch of different color Sharpies and started to color Paolo's fingernails without him noticing. While Paolo was not happy about this, he did look great with his new nail polish.
After this, Ryan whipped out an old school game boy. As a kid, everyone knows the key to killing time on a trip is having a game boy. While these things might have been cool when we were 10, they are even cooler when we are in our 20s! I, for one, was jealous.
It was finally game day and all that was on our minds was three points. When the game started, we did not come out as strong as we should have. But, we eventually went up 1-0. Paolo curled in a corner which Daniel Keller won the initial header. His header went to the back post, where Andrew Farrell was able to power it home. What was great about playing on ESPNU, was that the goal made Sports Center's Top 10 plays. Which hasn't happened since the 2010 season in the College Cup.
Shortly after, USF tied it up. It would stay tied up until about the 82nd minute. Ryan Smith would collect a loose ball in the box and put it home for the 2-1 win. Coming home with three points is a great feeling. What is not a great feeling is waking up at 5 a.m. to catch a flight home the next morning.
Saturday night we return to Cardinal Park for a game at 7:00 p.m. against Villanova. It is senior night so we will be honoring Michael Roman, Brock Granger, Buck Tufty, Zach Torp, Ryan Smith, Paolo DelPiccolo, and myself before the game. We look forwarded to seeing you guys there!
