Men's College Soccer
Siena College 1, Rider University 0
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y.?The Broncs kept Siena off of the board for 85 minutes but it wasn't enough as Rider lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to the Saints Sunday afternoon. “We didn't play up to our potential today,” said Rider head coach Russ Fager. “This was not the outcome we were after, that's for sure.”
Siena's Anthony Tagliaferri scored in the 86th minute to defeat Rider (5-5-1, 0-1-1 MAAC). “We made a mistake at the end that cost us dearly,” Fager said. “Our two defensive midfielders both went for the same ball, collided, and Siena took it home. Hopefully we can learn from it and the next time it occurs we'll be on the other end of it.”
Siena (4-5-2, 1-1-0 MAAC) out-shot Rider 12-11, although four of Rider's shots were on goal where only three of Siena's shots were on goal. “We had quite a few more shots on goal,” Fager said. Junior Anthony Gilbert (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) had three of Rider's shots, all on goal.
Saint goalkeeper Steve Skonieczny made four saves for Siena.
In the closing minutes a header by senior Mark Ockenhouse (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) beat Skonieczny but hit the goal post. “That was kind of a bummer there,” Fager said. “Ock beat him but it didn't go in.”
The Broncs were playing without senior Lee Tomasso (Westfield). “We didn't play Tomasso because he was hurt and we didn't want to risk him for the rest of the season,” Fager said. “With Lee out it caused us a few problems. Lee takes all of the corner kicks, all of the direct kicks, so we had to re-adjust everything. So it was a little bit different today, but it gave us a chance to get other people on the field.”
Rider had four corners to Siena's one.
Rider junior goalkeeper Randall Zapolski (Lawrence) was credited with two saves. “Randy made a phenomenal save on a player who got loose in the box,” Fager said. “Randy came out and snuffed it. He did a very good job today.”
Rider and Siena tied 0-0 last season at Rider, and tied 1-1 at Siena in 2005. Rider is now 5-4-3 against Siena since the series began in 1997.
Rider hosts Iona Friday at 4pm. “It will be good to play a conference game at home,” Fager said. “We're looking forward to that. We're looking to get everyone healthy. The guys will be ready, and hopefully we'll have the home crowd there to cheer us on. The field hockey team (who beat Siena 3-1) was here to cheer us on today, so that was nice. We got here early and cheered for them, and they did the same for us.”
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