Men's College Soccer
Rider University 3, Canisius College 1
LAWRENCEVILLE? Freshman Jim Bradley (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) scored two goals to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Canisius in the regular season finale. “At the end of the season you are looking to be going on the up swing,” said Rider head coach Russ Fager, “and I think right now we are on an up swing. Hopefully we can keep going on the up swing.”
Bradley collected a loose ball and scored just 2:03 into the game. “The Canisius defender tried to head it out,” Bradley said. “It short hoped me, so I brought it down with my chest, saw the corner of the net open and I just hit it as hard as I could. It was nice to get an early lead.”
Canisius (6-11, 5-4 MAAC) came right back and scored two minutes later on a goal by Chris Carpenter. “When we gave the goal right back to them I told the guys I was proud how they hung in there, they didn't quit, and kept coming and coming,” Fager said. “If Canisius wins today they probably would have been the second seed in the conference, so they are a strong team, which tells our guys that we can play with any one, and that the (upcoming MAAC) tournament is wide open.”
Bradley scored his fifth goal of the season off of a crossing pass from freshman Juan Arana (Ocean, N.J./Ocean Township) for a 2-1 lead in the ninth minute of the second half. “Juan had the ball outside at the 18, he came across to me and he put the ball right where I needed it,” Bradley said. “I tried to finesse that one a little bit, more so than just power it, and it went right under the bar. I was happy with that shot.”
“Bradley has done well all year and has been a very nice surprise for us,” Fager said. “We knew he was a pretty good player coming in, we just didn't know how good. The one thing about Jim is that he is so coachable. If every freshman came in with his attitude they would all be making strides hand over first. He has been a steady performer for us. He has become somebody we have a hard time getting off the field.”
Senior defender Mark Ockenhouse (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) scored his first goal of the season on Senior Day to seal the victory with 25 minutes left to play. “About time,” Ockenhouse said. “I've been right there all season so it feels good to get that goal, get that monkey off my back. It is a great feeling, especially on Senior Day.”
“Ock has been fun,” Fager said. “He's a tremendous athlete in the back for us. He wins a lot of balls. He's a tremendous defender with a great personality. This year he did so many things for us. I was hoping he might be able to get a goal in his last home game and he did. That epitomizes where he's been all season, in the right place at the right time.”
“It was an excellent game and I'm just glad we all came together and played well,” Ockenhouse said, “and we got the result we needed. Try to take some momentum into the tournament.”
“I was happy I was able to help make Senior Day a special day for those guys,” Bradley said. “We have three great seniors who mean a great deal to the team. It was good to see Ock get a goal.”
Rider lost 4-0 at Canisius last year. Rider and Canisius have met 12 times with Rider holding an 8-4 advantage in the series that began in 1990. “I was very pleased in the way we came out so hard, so aggressive, and proud of the way the guys handled themselves,” Fager said.
Rider (7-9-2, 2-5-2 MAAC) out-shot Canisius 15-12. Rider senior goalkeeper Jesse Forsythe (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) made five saves in his final home game. Adam Catley made three saves in goal for Canisius.
Rider will now compete in the 10-team MAAC Championship tournament November 14-17 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. “I was just at Disney World a few months ago for my high school senior trip,” Bradley said, “but this is going to be really exciting.”
“I've been to Disney quite a few times,” Ockenhouse said, “and I'm excited to go back, but there won't be any outside distractions. We're going down there for business, to concentrate on soccer. This conference is wide open, and any team can win this tournament. So we're going to go down there and concentrate on having a good showing.”
The pairings of the tournament will be announced by the MAAC offices Monday. Rider enters the tournament on a two-game winning streak, and the Broncs are 2-1-1 in their last four games. “This is a good time of year to put two wins together, and it will be even better if we can do that again next week,” Ockenhouse said.
Prior to the game Rider retired former Bronc All-American soccer player Bobby Smith's uniform number. Smith was inducted into the U. S. National Soccer Hall of Fame with Mia Hamm this past summer.
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