Broncs remain undefeated on home turf

By Rocco Schirripa
Athletes from all of Rider’s sports teams came out to show their support for the women’s soccer team as the Broncs defeated Wagner 2-1 on Tuesday during their “Code Cranberry” event.

“We had some good performances by our upperclassmen, Nat Sica and Stacy Belgiovene,  and also our two goal scorers, Musumeci and Brody,” Head Coach Drayson Hounsome said.

Senior Alison Brody had a big day with a goal and an assist, while junior Lauren Musumeci had the second goal to put the Broncs ahead.

“[It was] good to see Brody get a goal and an assist in the game,” Hounsome said. “[This was] her first goal in a couple of years.”

The Broncs are now 3-0 at home, a drastic improvement from last season when they did not put together one home win.

Also among the highlights was freshman goalkeeper Jenn Nichols’ first collegiate win. “Nichols did an excellent job in goal, making a big save from a Wagner freekick in the first half,” Hounsome said. “It was a good way to end our non-conference portion of the schedule and get us back to .500.”

Earlier in the weekend the Broncs went to Loretto, Pa., and tied St. Francis 1-1 in overtime.
Rider showed a flair for the dramatic as freshman Angela Lozupone scored with 22 minutes left in the second half to tie the game and send it into overtime. Lozupone took the pass from senior Natalie Sica for her second goal of the season.

Nichols had her first collegiate start in the game on Friday and had eight saves.

“We had a lot of good chances to put [the game] away, but ultimately we took the trip to get a result and we walked away with a tie,” said senior Kate Murphy. “It was an ugly game, but the fact that we were able to stick in there and find a way to get the back of the net shows the character of our team and what we hope to build on.”

It was the first time the Broncs went into overtime this season.

“We were all so tired from everything, and we were able to still go out and play our game,” Lozupone said.

Rider begins conference play this weekend by traveling up to Canisius on Friday at 7 p.m. and Niagara on Sunday at noon.

“We are excited for the conference games and look forward to a lot of supporters at our home games creating a home-field advantage,” Hounsome said.