The men's soccer team earned the Brown Soccer Classic title this weekend, defeating George Mason University 2-1 and Temple University 2-0 in two hard-fought battles.
Brown 2, George Mason 1
With the Patriots (3-3-1) coming off of back-to-back wins — 9-0 against Howard University and 3-0 against American University — the Bears (3-1-0) were anticipating a battle in front of a booming home crowd Friday night.
"We knew it was not going to be an easy game, and it wasn't," said Head Coach Patrick Laughlin. "When teams come here, they're playing as hard as they can because they know we are a good program and that it's going to be a physical challenge."
Nonetheless, few could have predicted just how physical the game would get. As students hurled insults from the sidelines, the two teams traded blows on a field torn up by days of heavy rainfall. After 90 minutes, six yellow cards had been issued — three apiece — and the Patriots were whistled for 20 fouls, with Bruno racking up eight.
"We saw on film that they were going to be a rough team, so we knew we had to battle," said Sean Rosa '12.5. "One of our strengths and something we pride ourselves in is battling and being strong, so we were ready for it."
Rosa scored Bruno's first home goal of the season off of an assist from T.J. Popolizio '12 in the 32nd minute, putting the team up 1-0. The Bears gave the Patriots little opportunity to recover, and three minutes later Popolizio headed in a goal of his own off of a corner kick. With a 2-0 lead at halftime, Laughlin said he warned his team about letting their emotions get the best of them. Not until the 84th minute did George Mason score its only goal.
"What we wanted to do was take the emotion out of the second half," Laughlin said. "It may not be as exciting for the fans, but it's better for us. At the end, of course, it got emotional because they got a goal, but we did a good job of keeping our heads and not getting any additional cards."
Brown 2, Temple 0
The Bears faced Temple Sunday in the final game of the Brown Soccer Classic, and, in another physical match-up, Bruno again prevailed, 2-0.
After defeating Holy Cross 4-1 in their first game of the weekend tournament, Temple (2-1-0) entered Sunday's game looking to make its presence known. The match-up ended up being a slugfest, and the two sides were whistled for 10 fouls apiece. The Owls earned twice as many yellow cards as the Bears, who only received two.
"That's typical college soccer at this point in the year," said Popolizio. "Everyone has energy, and they are excited, but we were prepared for that. We're the type of team that plays hard in practice, so when we get into the game, we are not surprised when there are 20 fouls and six cards."
Popolizio scored the Bears' first goal of the game in dramatic fashion. After receiving a pass from Thomas McNamara '13 in the box, Popolizio put a shot on goal that was deflected by a defender before bouncing off of the cross bar. Still on the ground after taking the shot, Popolizio received his own rebound and was able to find the back of the net on his second attempt.
"I just kind of flailed at it and did a little overhead kick, and I was lucky enough to get it in there," he said.
Bruno's second tally of the game came from Jose Salama '14 on an assist from Dylan Remick '13.
The game marked the first start of the season for goalkeeper Sam Kernan-Schloss '13, who earned a shutout in his first game back since breaking his leg in last year's preseason. Laughlin said the decision to start Kernan-Schloss over Alex Carr '15, who was in goal for the Bears' first three games, was made before the weekend began.
The Bears return to action on Friday when they face South Carolina on the road. The Gamecocks have a chip on their shoulder after losing to Brown 1-0 last season at Stevenson Field. "It's a real challenge for us down there," Laughlin said. "But we want to play the best teams in the country, and hopefully that will help us to get through the Ivy League."
Even after two hard-fought battles at home, the Bears know that there is still much more to come as they gear up for the Ivy League and compete for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
"It's only going to get tougher," Popolizio said. "Winter is coming, and we know that Ivy League games and postseason games are battles. You need to be ready to get into a brawl with your teammates and win every ball and every slide tackle, because you never know what mistake is going to lead to a goal."
