Men's College Soccer
Rider University 1, NJIT 1 (2 ot)
LAWRENCEVILLE?The atmosphere at the Rider soccer game Tuesday afternoon was simply electric. Probably because, due to a car accident with a utility pole in front of the Rider campus on Lawrenceville Road, the only spot on campus where the electricity was working was at the far West end, where the soccer field is located.
So while the rest of the campus was in the dark, the Rider men's soccer team played overtime, for the third consecutive game, tying the New Jersey Institute of Technology 1-1.
“I thought that the guys played hard,” said Rider head coach Russ Fager. “They gave a good effort again.”
NJIT (1-5-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute of play on an unassisted goal. The Highlanders' shot was saved by junior goalkeeper Dylan Hastings (Tabernacle), a transfer from Rutgers, but the rebound was collected by Erik Magnusson, who scored and now leads NJIT with five points.
The Broncs (1-5-2) came right back less than a minute later and tied the score at 1-1. Senior Anthony Gilbert (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks South) collected a crossing pass from freshman Connor O'Keefe (Lansing, Mich./De Witt) and fed sophomore Jim Bradley (Washington Township) with a one-touch pass in traffic.
“It seemed like there was a scrum,” Bradley said. “I lost sight of the ball, then it came out and I caught it and lifted it over the goalie. I'll take it. I'll take a goal anyway I can get it.”
“Bradley has been playing very well in the middle of the field,” Fager said.
The goal was the first of the year for Bradley and the sixth of his career. “Finally,” Bradley said. “I had a shot earlier today that hit the post and against Delaware I had three or four shots that just missed the post.”
NJIT out-shot Rider 16-9. “There were parts in the game where we were up and down,” Fager said. “We can't have high points and low points in a game, where we are playing very well and all of a sudden we are not playing at all. That becomes a concern for us.”
“We'll take a tie, but we really wanted a win,” Bradley said. “I like how we bounced back.”
Hastings made five saves in his Rider debut. “We have three keepers in the program,” Fager said. “My feeling is that early in the season will have to give somebody else a chance. Guys in the back get to become secure in certain areas and begin to pick up bad habits. By changing things up it helps avoid those bad habits. It also keeps a second goalie stay sharp.”
Rider has now compiled back-to-back ties while playing with four starters sidelined with injuries. “Considering all of the bodies that we do not have I thought we did a nice job,” Fager said. “The guys did a very nice job filling in.”
Rider hosts Temple Friday, Rider's fourth game in nine days. “There is an upside and a downside to it,” Fager said. “The down side is when you play back-to-back-to-back overtime games you begin to get mentally fatigued. The upside is when you fight through games like this and keep things close you really learn that a game can be won at any moment.”
“Three overtime games in a row certainly isn't helping us,” Bradley said, “being short-handed with injuries. But we're a strong hearted team. “
Strong hearted, and with power (electric).
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