Women's College Soccer
Rider University 3, St. Joseph's University 2
LAWRENCEVILLE? Freshman Lauren Musumeci (Annandale, N.J./North Hunterdon) scored her team-high fourth goal of the season to lead Rider to a come-from-behind victory over Saint Joseph's Tuesday. “I thought it showed a lot of character to come back from a two goal deficit to win a game,” said Rider head coach Kevin Long. “It is nice to see that we have that ability.”
With the scored tied at 2-2 Musumeci took a pass from sophomore Alison Brody (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) and scored with just over six minutes left to play.
“Ali was dribbling on the sideline, there was a split between the two defenders and she crossed the ball through,” Musumeci said. “I was up waiting at the top of the box. It was just a quick touch and a shot and it went in. It was exciting.”
“She takes the ball out of the air off of a cross with her foot, brings it down on a dime, and second touches a shot on goal with authority,” Long said. “It was a great combination between Moose and Ali. Moose has played a lot of positions for us. She has one of the purest strikes of the ball on the team, and she has shown that.”
“I switch between forward and center-mid,” Musumeci said. “I'm used to both positions. I don't really have a preference. I'll play wherever Coach puts me.”
Junior defender Erin Mahar (Barnegat, N.J./Colonia) scored her first career goal 8:24 in the second half to get Rider on the board. “It was ironic because my first career assist came against St. Joe's last year,” Mahar remembered. “My brother (Steven) was at that game and he was here today, so I guess he is my good luck charm. Either that or we need to play St. Joe's more.”
“Erin has been dangerous throughout the year,” Long said. “She's carried the ball forward and she set the tone as we started the second half come back.”
Saint Joseph's (2-5) scored twice in the first 20 minutes of the game to take a 2-0 lead. “The first goal we let in was pretty deplorable in the sense that it was a complete breakdown, one of our worst this season,” Long said. “The second goal was an equally bad breakdown but St. Joe's deserved that goal. They did everything right.”
“It was unfortunate because both (St. Joe) goals were the result of breakdowns on our part,” Mahar said. “So we had to come out of a hole. We had to play relentless, with some tenacity and I think we showed that in the second half. I'm glad we came back.”
Mahar took a pass from ssophomore Kate Murphy (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) and scored to cut the lead to 2-1. “The ball was played in, I took a touch to my left foot and just took a shot and hoped for the best,” Mahar said.
Junior Michelle Matricardi (Abington, Pa./Abington) tied the score at 2-2 with her first goal of the season just five minutes later, off a pass from freshman Kimberly Reichel (Chester, N.J./West Morris-Mendham)
Rider (3-2-3) out-shot St. Joe's 22-11, including 13-6 in the second half. “It was a tale of two halves,” Long said. “We had the better of it the entire 90 minutes but in the second half we really controlled possession. We had quite a few chances in the first half but not a goal to show for it. In the second half we were determined to finish these shots.”
Coming into the game the Hawks had scored just two goals all season and had lost four in a row. “We have to go into every game the same,” Mahar said. “We came out today the same way we came out against (regionally ranked) Navy, or the same way we will come out against (MAAC power) Loyola. We have to play hard no matter who the opponent is.”
The victory was Rider's first since September 9. “We got away from our style of play for a couple of games but today we got back to our style and when we play this way we provide a more offensive threat and we are a much better team,” Mahar said.
“We played much more cohesive as a unit today,” said Long, “and the way we played today is what we expect from Rider soccer. We dictated play today for the first time in a long time.”
Rider freshman goalkeeper Alex Post (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks West) made seven saves, while Megan Bastianelli made nine saves for the Hawks.
Rider and St. Joe's met for the first time last season in Philadelphia, with the Broncs winning 2-0 on a pair of first half goals.
Rider hosts the University of Pennsylvania Sunday. “Penn is a good team,” Long said. “They have some dynamic players.”
“We just have to keep coming out hard and show ?em who Rider is,” Mahar said.
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