Women's College Soccer
Rider University 1, United States Naval Academy 1 (2ot)
Navy Invitational
ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Among the 405 spectators at the Glenn Warner Soccer Stadium on the Naval Academy campus Friday night, sat a group of very happy Rider alums. “My whole family went to Rider, and they were all here tonight,” said freshman Kimberly Reichel, who scored with less than four minutes left in regulation to give Rider a tie with the heavily favored Midshipmen in the first round of the Navy Soccer Invitational.
“My brother goes to Rider,” Reichel said. “My parents went here, my Dad's sister, my Mom's sister, and their husbands all went to Rider. They were all here tonight, along with my grandparents, and I heard them when I scored.”
Reichel (Chester, N.J./West Morris-Mendham) scored her first collegiate goal from 20 yards out with four minutes left in regulation.
“There was a deflection,” Reichel remembered. “I was in the middle and I just took one touch. The clock was running down and I had to release it as quickly as I could. The next thing I know it's up and in. It was amazing. At first I was a little shocked myself. I felt the game wasn't over yet, that we had to keep fighting.”
“Time was running out and we put some pressure on them and we kind of ampted up our pressure,” said Rider head coach Kevin Long. “With that we had some shots. The ball popped out to Kim and she struck it upper 90 (top corner of net). It was a great shot. Kim is aggressive by nature in that she wants to get in on the play, and she is clearly an emotional player.”
“This was a pretty crucial goal,” Reichel said, “so it ranks among the best I've ever scored. I was more of a defensive player in high school so I didn't score a lot.”
“We came in here against a team that is nationally recognized as a power, another (NCAA) tournament team on our schedule, and to walk away with a tie shows that we have a good chance to be very competitive throughout the year,” said Long.
The Broncs extended their unbeaten streak to six games with a come-from-behind tie with the powerful Navy squad. The Broncs (1-0-2) were 2-0-1 over the final three games of last season. After posting a 1-1 tie in its opener against Iowa last weekend, Navy put together back-to-back wins against IUPUI (3-0) and Saint Peter's (4-0).
“I'll tell you what, Navy is one heck of a good team,” Long said. “To hold them to one goal, I'll take that.”
Navy (2-0-2), which held St. Peter's to no shots in a 4-0 win Tuesday, scored 10 minutes into the second half to take a 1-0 lead, out-shot Rider 24-7 for the game. “I thought our team showed tremendous heart and effort trying to stop the Navy attack,” Long said.
Freshman Alex Post (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks West) made eight saves in the Rider nets. “Post came up large again,” Long said. “This was one of her more physical contests. She came off her line well and made some key saves. It really helped squash a lot of the Navy attack.”
The Broncs play Longwood in the second round at Navy Sunday at 12 noon. “We're still not playing our best soccer,” Long said. “We need to get more shots on goal, need to be more offensive minded. We've had good results in our three games but haven't shot enough.”
Senior Shana Herman (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) also excelled for the Broncs Friday. “Shana in the back played very well for us,” Long said. “She played aggressively and stopped a lot of the Navy attacks.”
Senior Michele Ripoll (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro), after suffering season-ending knee injuries in both the 2005 and 2006 season openers, played for the first time this season Friday. “Rip took the field for the first time and that was a great moment for the entire team,” Long said, “and she played significant minutes.”
There was a lot to be excited about at Navy Friday evening. “It was exciting with the big crowd,” Reichel said. “There were a lot of people cheering.”
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