Men's College Soccer - MAAC Tournament
#8 Siena College 6, #9 Rider University 2
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla?The 2007 Rider University soccer season came
to an end Wednesday in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference Championship Tournament, held at Disney's Wide World of
Sports Complex. “No question this was the worst day of the year,” said
Rider head coach Russ Fager. “We could not have picked a worse day to
play a bad game.”
Siena (6-9-4), the eighth seed, took a 2-0 lead 14 minutes into the
game on a pair of goals by Thomas Ciovacco. “Siena came at us and got a
couple of goals early,” Fager said.
Rider (7-10-2), the ninth seed, cut the lead to 2-1 when sophomore
Nico Tramontana (Vineland/Sacred Heart) took a pass from senior Mark
Ockenhouse (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) off of a corner kick
and scored his team-high sixth goal of the season. “Nico scored on a
set piece from a header by Ock,” Fager said.
Six minutes later Ciovacco completed the hat trick with his third
goal of the game and his fifth of season, giving Siena a 3-1 lead.
Siena scored on a goal on a penalty kick to take a 4-1 lead. “Ock
pushed a guy in the box and they called a PK which they scored on,”
Fager said. “He took a heck of a shot.”
The Saints scored with five minutes left in the first half to take a 5-1 lead at intermission. “The first half we pretty much were never in the game,” Fager said.
Rider freshman Tom Dunn (Westampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) scored on
a penalty kick to cut the lead to 5-2 10 minutes into the second half,
but that was as close as the Broncs could get. “Dunn scored less than
two minutes after a PK by (senior) Lee Tomasso (Westfield) was saved,”
Fager said.
The Saints out-shot Rider 14-12. Junior goalkeeper Randall Zapolski (Lawrence) made two saves for the Broncs. Steve Skonieczny made three saves for Siena.
“The game went absolutely terrible,” Fager said.
Siena will now play the top seed and ten-time MAAC champion, Loyola, in the quarter-finals Thursday at 1:45 pm.
Rider lost 1-0 at Siena earlier this season when the Saints scored in the 86th minute of play.
Eighteen of Fager's 33 Rider teams have reached post-season play, including eight of the last 12. “I don't think I've ever had a team play this badly in a playoff game,” Fager said.
Rider last went to the MAAC playoffs in 2004, when the Broncs lost
to Marist in the Title Game. Rider defeated top-seeded Loyola 3-1 in
the semi-finals that year.
Rider went to the 2003 MAAC tournament in Florida and defeated
Manhattan in the first round and upset the second seed, Fairfield in
the quarter-finals before losing in the semi-finals eventual champion
Saint Peter's.
The Broncs won MAAC Titles in 1997 and 1998, Rider's first two years in the MAAC.
-RU-
