Broncs stumble on road against MAAC rivals
By Paige McAtee
The women’s soccer team had two tough losses in away games against Canisius and Niagara last weekend. Rider had their first MAAC game of the season on Friday, falling 3-1 to Canisius.
“We played well, but came up against a team playing at home that was better than us that night,” said Head Coach Drayson Hounsome.
Canisius outshot Rider in the first half, claiming 10 shots before Rider had its first. The Broncs only goal of the game came from junior Lauren Musumeci, who scored with 24 minutes left in the second half off a free kick 35 yards out, making the score 2-1. The goal was Musumeci’s sixth of the season. Of Rider’s six shots on goal, Musumeci made three.
Canisius scored in the last minute of the game to make the final score 3-1.
On Sunday, Rider had their second away game in two days, playing against Niagara. The Broncs had trouble adjusting to Niagara’s style, and added its second loss of the weekend, 2-1.
The Broncs came out stronger in the second half, with one goal by freshman Claire Thompson, her second collegiate goal.
“We didn’t adjust soon enough to counter how they were playing, and it caused us some problems,” Hounsome said. “If we’d have done this sooner and performed to our potential, then the result should have been very different.”
Nearly 1,000 fans came out to support Canisius, all cheering and singing, which created an incredible home field advantage for Canisius.
“It would be great to build up to this for our home games in the future at Rider,” Hounsome said. “It would certainly give us a strong home-field advantage and give us motivation to be successful.”
Hounsome encourages the Rider community to support the Broncs at their next home game against Siena on Saturday, Oct. 9.
Despite these two MAAC losses, Hounsome has high hopes for the season.
“Goals for the season are to finish in the top six of the conference so that we get an additional day off at the conference championships in Orlando,” Hounsome said.
Rider’s next game is on the road against Loyola on Oct. 3, at 1 p.m.
