Broncs drop two crucial MAAC road games

by Eric Malave

The Rider women’s soccer team did not find much luck in New York this past weekend as it lost two MAAC games.

On Oct. 19, Broncs traveled to upstate New York to play against Niagara who are the defending champions.
The Broncs could not come up with the win. They lost 2-1 against Niagara.

“I was disappointed with the loss and wish I scored or assisted a goal/goals,” said senior Stephaine Madden. “I think we all individually played well but just didn’t put it together to come out with a win.”

Niagara (9-5-0, 4-1 MAAC) scored in the 24th minute of the game on a goal by Shaylyn Lawrence (second goal of the season), giving them the 1-0 lead over Rider (5-7-3, 1-4 MAAC). Christina Langrell assisted on the goal.
They scored again right before 67th minute of play when Chiara Greco scored, making the score 2-0. It was her fourth goal of the season. Brittany Bisnott picked up an assist on the goal.

It wasn’t until the 76th minute of the game when the Broncs responded. Senior Michele Ripolli scored off of a 35-yard kick, giving Rider its only goal of the game.

After the goal, the Broncs became more intense and began to put pressure on Niagra in the remaining minutes of the game. However, the Broncs were too late to make any significant plays.

Niagara outshot Rider 22-14. This included 8-1 in the first few minutes of the game.

“I thought Niagara played like the reigning conference champions they are,” said Coach Kevin Long. “They are fast, skilled and attack very well.”

Out of the 14 shots, senior Michelle Ripolli and sophomore Kayla Devlin each had 3 shots. Senior Stephanie Madden had two shots which were both on goal for Rider.

Also playing well on defense was sophomore Stacy Belgiovene.

Freshman goalkeeper Alex Post had five saves for the Broncs, with Ashleigh Bowers making eight saves for Niagara.

Unfortunately for Rider, it has lost two games prior to entering this game against Niagara.
Next, the team played against Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday.

The Broncs had another unfortunate outcome, as they lost another MAAC game.

Canisius (6-8-1, 3-3 MAAC) scored with 10 minutes left in the first half by Sylvia Kowalski. This gave them a 1-0 lead against Rider.

In the second half, with 5 minutes left in the game, Canisius scored again when Jessica Leemans took a pass from Amanda Janosky and put it through the posts ending the game 2-0.

Canisius also out-shot the Broncs 13-6. The Griffs led that tally 6-2 in the second half.

Post made two saves for the Broncs, while Daniella Pettinari made two saves for Canisius in the shutout.

Rider hosts Marist on Friday Oct. 26.