Women's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Marist College 1
LAWRENCEVILLE—It isn't always how you start but how you finish that is important. The Broncs had a rough start on Sunday, as did senior captain Kate Murphy (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South), but all is well that ends well and Sunday ended very well.
“Today was exhilarating,” said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome. “A fantastic performance and a fantastic result. We played great and when we do that you want to see the players get the win and they did. Just an awesome performance today.”
Kate Murphy scored two goals to lead Rider to a come-from-behind Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win over Marist Sunday. “I've never scored two goals in a game before,” Murphy said.
“When you can get two goals from a wide midfielder we know as a team we are performing well,” Hounsome said.
Murphy scored her second goal of the season 22:21 into the game when Rider junior Lauren Musumeci (Annandale, N.J./North Hunterdon) took a long shot on goal that Marist keeper Jamie Balzarini saved but mis-handled. Murphy picked up the rebound and scored to tie the score at 1-1. “Moose (Musumeci) took a shot and I saw the goalie's eyes drop off the ball so I just charged her and we collided pretty good but I got the best of it,” Murphy remembered, “and it ended up in the back of the net.”
“Kate had an 'okay' start to the game,” Hounsome said. “We made the decision to sub her out, to put someone else in and just as we made that decision Moose has a shot, the keeper doesn't get all of it and Kate was doing what Kate does best, which is work super hard, she follows everything up, and she gets the rebound and scores.”
“I saw Alli (senior Alison Brody of Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) standing there on the sideline trying to sub in and I thought she was coming in for me,” Murphy said. “I kind of had a rough start and in the back of my mind I thought I just need to get something going, so I figured that (scoring a goal) was a good way to come off.”
The Red Foxes (5-6-2, 2-3-1 MAAC) had taken a 1-0 lead just 9:24 into the game on a five yard header off of corner kick. “We kept ourselves in it,” Hounsome said. “We gave up a goal early, unfortunately, but we didn't quit. We kept working, and once we got the first goal we got some momentum going and our game began to flow. Once our game flows we perform better.”
With 26 minutes left in the second half Murphy took a pass from freshman Claire Thompson (East Greenwich, R.I./E. Greenwich) and scored on a shot with the outside of her foot to give Rider its first come-from-behind win of the season. “Abi (freshman Abi Cottam of Leominster, England/Ludlow) made a nice lay off pass to Claire and I saw the keeper off her line so I just tried to chip it over her,” Murphy said. “I had plenty of space so I took the shot and it went in.”
“That was a class finish,” Hounsome said. “Abi brought the ball down, gave it to Claire, who made a great through ball and Kate had a one-touch, just a quality finish.”
Murphy was the star of the game Sunday but others certainly contributed to the win. “I could pick many players who did well today," Hounsome said. “(junior) Kimberly Reichel (Chester, N.J./Mendham) was awesome today. She has worked hard to improve her game. Today it all came together for her. She turned in a first class performance today.”
Rider freshman goalkeeper Jenn Nichols (Stratham, N.H./Exeter) had six saves and is now 2-1-1 as a Bronc.
Rider (5-8-1, 1-4 MAAC) is now 4-1 at home this season, the only loss coming to Siena on Friday. “I think we played well on Friday,” Hounsome said. “We didn't play as well as we did today.” “That's a great feeling to have,” Murphy said, “that we can protect this field and not let people leave here with anything less than a loss.”
“4-1 at home is what we needed to be,” Hounsome said. “We know we need to get our points at home and then try to split on the road."
Marist out-shot Rider 14-10, including 9-4 in the first half. “We got three points (for the win) from a pretty decent team in our league,” Murphy said. “Our first three points, our first MAAC win of the season, the feeling is indescribable.”
Rider lost at Marist 3-2 last year. The last time Rider defeated Marist was 2005. Marist holds an 8-5 advantage in the series that began in 1997.
The Broncs travel to Fairfield Friday. “Today's win puts us where we want to be,” Hounsome said. “Our goal right now is clear, to find a way to be among the top six in the conference (to avoid the extra game in the playoffs that the bottom four teams must play). Fairfield won the league last year but if we play well, who knows? If we play well like this we can get results.”
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