Women’s soccer drops opening matches

By Rob Rose

One of the main storylines entering this season for the Broncs was who would replace Goalkeeper Bethany-May Howard. The two-year captain leaves as Rider’s all-time leader in wins and shutouts.

In her absence, the Broncs have turned to a pair of keepers to fill her spikes. Junior Amy Kozlowski from Middletown, Connecticut and freshman Carmen Carbonell from Valencia, Spain will have split time in net early this season.

In the season opener against Wagner, Kozlowski got the start. She allowed two goals in the first half before Carbonell took over in the second half. Junior forward Kourtney Cunningham scored the only goal for the Broncs in a 2-1 loss.

For their first road match of the season against Fairleigh Dickinson, Carbonell got the start. She allowed two first-half goals as well, leading to a 2-0 loss for the Broncs. Cunningham and Smith led the Broncs’ offense with a combined three shots on goal.

In their third match against Temple, Kozlowski got the start. She allowed two first half goals while Carbonell allowed one in the second half, and the Broncs fell to the Owls, 3-1. Smith scored her first goal of the season while Cunningham added another shot on goal.

After three games, the Broncs record is 0-3. Smith leads them in points with three and is tied with Cunningham for goals with one. After a fourth place finish in 2016, the women’s soccer team was picked to finish third in the MAAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Adding to the preseason honors, senior midfielder Ellie Smith and junior back Meghan McCabe were named to the Preseason All-MAAC team.

Smith returns after a strong junior season, ranking second in points per game and goals per game and also finishing fifth in the league in points and sixth in goals scored.

McCabe is currently leading the defense. Coming off 2015 All-MAAC Second Team and MAAC All-Rookie Team selections during her rookie season, McCabe started all 18 games as a sophomore.