Women's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Iona College 0
LAWRENCEVILLE-Sophomore Abi Cottam (Leominster, England/Ludlow) and freshman Jennifer Meier (Sayville, NY/St. Anthony's), Rider's top two scorers, each scored to give Rider a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win over Iona Friday night. "That was a good result," said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome.
With the win the Broncs (6-6-2, 2-3 MAAC) are now 4-1-1 on their home field this year after going 6-1 at home last season. "We play well at home," Hounsome said, "especially on Friday nights."
Cottam scored her team-high seventh goal of the season with 18 minutes left in the second half after receiving a pass from freshman Bridgette Bartkowski (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee). The assist was the team-high fourth for Bartkowski.
"Abi made a great run right through and I just slid tackled the ball through the defender's legs to her, and she finished it" Bartkowski said.
"Bridgette is a technically phenomenal player," Hounsome said. "Some of the things she does with the ball, I don't know how she does it. She creates a lot of opportunities for everyone else. She has unbelievable skills. She is really important for how we want to play. It is tough for teams to get the ball from her. She's vital for us."
"Right now I see myself as the one making the plays, playing the balls through, since I can't seem to score," said Bartkowski, who led Cherokee High in scoring her junior and senior years but only has managed to hit a few posts for Rider. "I'm really unlucky right now (with scoring) but it will come to me. I seem to hit the cross bar all the time."
Meier scored her fifth goal on a pass from senior Kimberly Reichel (Chester, N.J./Mendham) for the final score with 9:27 remaining.
"When the game is getting down to the final 10, 20 minutes, teams begin to take more risks," Hounsome said. "We absorbed the pressure and when we got the opportunity tonight we took advantage of it."
Rider out-shot Iona (3-11-1, 1-2-1 MAAC) 13-10, including seven to one on shots on goal. "We had to grind them down and eventually things opened up," Hounsome said.
Rider senior goalkeeper Alex Post (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks West) made one save for her fourth shutout of the season. Post is third in the MAAC in saves and fourth in shutouts.
Rider lost 1-0 at Iona last year and lost 1-0 to the Gaels in Lawrenceville in 2008. The two teams have now met 14 times, with Rider holding an 8-5-1 advantage in the series that began in 1997. The last time Rider beat Iona was 2006, losing the last three.
The Broncs are home again Sunday afternoon to host Fairfield at 1pm. "Last weekend (two losses on the road) we put ourselves in a bit of a hole," Hounsome said, "so we have to perform well in all of the home games."
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