Men's College Soccer
Rider University 3, New Jersey Institute of Technology 1
NEWARK? The Broncs won for the fourth time in the last five games, defeating the New Jersey Institute of Technology Tuesday evening. “I'm very excited,” said Rider head coach Russ Fager. “The guys have played very well. Even though we lost four, three of the four games we were in. Lately the breaks have begun going our way.”
One of the main reasons the Broncs have turned things around is the play and leadership of senior Lee Tomasso (Westfield). “Lee is one of the hardest working guys on the team,” Fager said. “He has a heart that is just phenomenal. He never stops, even when he is hurting. He is a tremendous leader of people.”
Sophomore Kevin Juska (Wall) scored his team-high third goal of the season on a corner kick from Tomasso to give Rider a 2-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first half.
“Juska made a run at the far post, got in front of the defender and hit a beautiful header into the upper 90 (top corner of net) on the right side of the goal,” Tomasso said. “He gave us a 2-0 cushion.”
An accounting major who has already lined up his post-graduation job as an accountant, Tomasso was an outstanding wrestler in high school, winning the County Championship, and was recruited by several colleges to wrestle. “I was recruited for both wrestling and soccer by different schools,” Tomasso said. “I chose soccer because Rider recruited me for that. I had a pretty good senior year in soccer. The Rider business program, the opportunities with soccer, the coaching staff and the location of the school all factored in on my decision. It would have been a very tough choice on what sport to pursue if Rider had recruited me for wrestling. I feel I made a good decision.”
So do the people at Rider. “Wrestling is by far the toughest sport, both mentally and physically, that anyone can do,” Tomasso said. “Soccer is more of a technical sport.”
Corner kicks provide the majority of the scoring opportunities in soccer and Tomasso takes the majority of the corner kicks for Rider. “On the corner kicks I'm just trying to whip the ball into the box as hard as I can, so all the guys have to do is make contact with it,” Tomasso said, “and for the most part our guys do a great job with it.”
Sophomore Nico Tramontana (Vineland/Sacred Heart) took a pass at the top of the box from freshman Jim Bradley (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) and shot the ball into the upper left corner of the net to give Rider (4-4) a 1-0 lead just 6:14 into the game. The goal was Tramontana's second of the season.
Freshman Andrew Cotes (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) scored his first collegiate goal with seven minutes left in the game on an assist from junior Anthony Gilbert (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) to secure the victory.
“Gilbert made a real nice run down the line, hit it in to Cotes, who got his first goal, which is great,” said Tomasso.
NJIT (1-6) scored on a penalty kick with 13 minutes left in the second half, cutting the Rider lead to 2-1.
Rider junior goalkeeper Randall Zapolski (Lawrence) made five saves.
Josh Osit made three saves for NJIT.
NJIT out-shot Rider 14-11. Six of Rider's 11 shots were on goal. Tomasso had three of Rider's shots, all three on goal.
This is the first time Rider and NJIT have met in soccer. NJIT moved up to the Division I level last year.
The Highlanders have now lost five in a row. NJIT lost to other MAAC teams Iona (2-1) and Saint Peter's (2-0), and its lone victory was a 2-0 upset of 22nd ranked San Diego State.
Rider hosts La Salle Saturday. “We're hoping to play another good game this weekend and get our first win at home, put us over .500 and get us ready for the conference schedule,” Fager said.
“Our plan all along was to peak at the conference games, and I think we're doing just that,” Tomasso said.
-RU-
