Men's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Niagara University 0
LAWRENCEVILLE? Junior Anthony Gilbert (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) set up two Rider goals as the Broncs defeated Niagara in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Friday. “Gilbert can be a great player,” said Rider head coach Russ Fager. “He has the speed and the technical ability and he's tough. He understands the game. He's a ?for-real' player.”
Gilbert's crossing pass set up junior AJ Parillo (South River) with his third goal of the season mid-way through the first half. “AJ was fighting for the ball, it popped loose, and came across the box,” Gilbert remembered. “I touched it around the defender, took it baseline and just put it back to AJ, and he put it away.”
On a free kick Gilbert found sophomore Nico Tramontana (Vineland/Sacred Heart) all alone at the 18, who drilled a left-footed shot in for the insurance goal with 20 minutes left to play. The goal was the fifth of the year for Tramontana, highest on the team.
“On the free kick the defense didn't seem to be paying attention so I slipped it to Nico and he just turned around and whacked it in,” Gilbert said.
The two assists give Gilbert five for the season. “As a midfielder that is my job, to get our forwards involved,” Gilbert said. “It doesn't matter to me who scores the goal, as long as we win the game.”
Rider (6-9-2, 1-5-2 MAAC) out shot Niagara (5-9-2, 3-4-1 MAAC) 19-14. “I was very pleased with the way the guys handled the game,” Fager said. “We are coming off a few tough losses. We did not give Niagara a lot of great chances.”
Jason Whitehead made seven saves for Niagara. Junior Randall Zapolski (Lawrence) made seven saves for the Broncs. “Randy did a nice job for us,” Fager said. “His distribution of the ball has gotten significantly better.”
“Being a goalie is a lot about confidence,” Zapolski said. “I'm starting to get a little bit of it now, able to come out on a lot more balls now.”
The victory ended a winless skid of 0-5-2 in October. “October was a frustrating month because we were in almost every game but we just couldn't pull off a ?W',” Fager said. “I'm glad October is over because that means November is here, and playoffs are here.”
“It was good to get October over with,” Gilbert said. “Now we can get a streak going before be head to Disney.”
The 10-team MAAC tournament will be played at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. “I'm ready for Disney, some warm weather,” Zapolski said.
Rider now holds a 6-4-1 advantage in the series with Niagara that began in 1997. “The game went very well today,” Gilbert said. “We played hard. We might have been able to finish more chances, but we won, that's what counts.”
“Talking to a lot of the coaches in the MAAC, this thing is wide open,” Fager said. “We're looking to get some ?Ws' in Disney.”
Rider completes the regular season Sunday at 1pm against Canisius. The graduating senior will be honored before the game, and Rider will also retire soccer legend Bobby Smith's uniform number.
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