With a goal ruled out and two powerful strikes clanging against the post, standout winger Kyle Gee ’25 did all but score during the men’s soccer team’s 2-1 victory over Siena College Saturday night at Stevenson-Pincince Field.
Despite his blank on the scoresheet, it was Gee’s speed, dizzying skill moves and precise crosses that carried the Bears to a comeback win.
Most notably, Gee delivered the assist for the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute, when his free kick from near the half line floated just over the Siena defense and dropped onto the foot of onrushing defender Zakary Lawal ’23, whose one-touch volley whizzed past the Siena goalkeeper.
“That kid’s amazing. This man is one of the best players I’ve seen in my life and he proves it … every single day,” Lawal said of Gee.
In the first half, Siena controlled most of the possession, with Brown setting up two banks of four behind the ball, allowing the Saints to pass around their backline.
“Siena is a really good team. They really want to keep possession and they want you to come out and press to then open up spaces,” said Head Coach Chase Wileman.
But in the 15th minute, Bruno’s midfield line was broken, and the Saints, who attacked through the flanks all game, created an overload on the right side. Siena wingbacker Jasper Schone Vogtengen entered the penalty box and drove in a low cross, after which forward Bilal Hersi beat the Brown defense and poked the ball past goalie Henrik Weiper ’26.
On the opposite end, the Bears’ offense was stagnant, creating few chances for the front two, Charlie Adams ’24 and Kojo Dadzie ’24.
For a moment the Bears thought they had drawn level when the Siena goalkeeper mishandled a cross, allowing Gee to poke the ball into the goal. But the referee ruled Gee had fouled the goalie, eliminating the goal and ensuring the Bears entered halftime behind.
“I wasn’t upset or angry at halftime. I said, ‘Keep at it and keep at it, let’s not open ourselves up,’ ” Wileman said. “I (felt) really good that we’ll get one and then after that we’ll have all the momentum.”
In the second half, the Bruno offense came alive and proved Wileman’s prediction to be prophetic.
After having a much larger portion of possession, the Bears began to launch a relentless series of promising attacks.
In the 47th minute, a volley from defender and captain Taha Kina ’24 off of a free kick from Gee flew just wide of the post.
Shortly afterward, forward Jamin Gogo Peters ’26 sent a low cross past the face of goal that a Saints defender cleared away just before Dadzie could reach it.
Peters played most of the first half on the right wing, but soon into the second half he was moved to Adams’ place in the forward pair — a change that launched Peters into more dangerous advanced positions.
Wileman eventually switched to a back three, allowing the Bruno midfield to push higher. “That puts a lot of numbers forward and allows you to press and be a little more direct,” Wileman said.
Gee, meanwhile, had been moved to the left wing amid the shuffle of the Bears’ front four, which allowed him to cut in on his favored right foot. After skating past two defenders just outside the box, Gee unleashed a biting curler that thudded against the outside of the far post.
“I got to play on the left side. That’s where I like to play. I like cutting in,” Gee said. “I feel like I had the outside back (beat) pretty easily.”
But just two minutes later, Brown finally broke through on Peters’ left boot. Adams cut in from the left wing and fired a shot that was blocked. It dropped to Peters, who took a touch to bring the ball to his left foot and rocketed a half-volley into the top corner of the goal, bringing the Bears level.
“That play is nothing that I did,” Wileman said. “That is a special play from a special player to get us back in the game.”
After the goal, Brown switched back to their original formation but continued to put pressure on the Saints’ defense. Ten minutes later came Gee’s free kick that Lawal received.
“I made the run, was open, tried to toe poke it in and it just happened to go in. It’s amazing,” Lawal said.
In the 86th minute, Gee again just missed getting on the score sheet, when his left-footed shot from Dadzie’s through ball struck the near post. But the additional score was not necessary, as the Brown defense held on for the remainder of the game.
Gee said the near-misses were “a little bit” disappointing: “On the first shot I … thought I was going to curl it in, and on the second I definitely thought I was going to score.”
Still, the victory was extra significant for the Bears, as it came against a team that had defeated them last year. “We lost 3-2 (last year), and they kind of celebrated in our faces and rubbed it in, so (it’s) good to get a result at home,” Lawal said.
The victory is also Brown’s second in a row before heading into Ivy League play with a game against Columbia next Saturday.
“We’ve been a little bit up and down, which is expected, with this being my first year,” Wileman said. “I think we’re in a really good spot.”
