Women's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Saint Peter's College 1
JERSEY CITY-Freshman Jennifer Meier (Sayville, NY/St. Anthony's) scored with 1:20 left in the second half to give Rider a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory at Saint Peter's Friday afternoon. "Luckily we managed to score so we didn't have to go into overtime," said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome.
Meier took a pass from sophomore Abi Cottam (Leominster, England/Ludlow) and scored her sixth goal and her first game-winner. "Saint Peter's had a corner, Abi cleared it up field with a long pass and Jen was able to get to it before the goalie (who came out) did and had a beautiful finish," Hounsome said. "She kicked it high over the goalie's head from about 30 yards out."
"Abi played a really nice ball about 30 yards through," Meier remembered. "The goalie came really far out so I just chipped it in over her head."
Meier earned All-State honors at Saint Anthony's last year and led her 2008 team to the State Championship as the team leader in goals. "I expected Jen to score goals for us this year," Hounsome said. "Today she scored with her left foot and she has several goals with her right foot this year. She's a good goal scorer."
"I didn't think I was going to score this many goals this year but I'm very happy that I am," Meier said, "happy with the way I've been playing."
Rider (7-7-2, 3-4 MAAC) tied the score at 1-1 with eight minutes left in the first half on a goal by sophomore defender Angela Monaco (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem) with an assist going to senior midfielder Kimberly Reichel (Chester, N.J./Mendham). It was Monaco's first career goal and Reichel's fourth assist.
"That was a nice surprise," Hounsome said. "We've been encouraging our fullbacks to attack more, to look to shoot when possible, and she did that today. She let a great shot rip into the top corner."
Saint Peter's (3-13, 0-6 MAAC) scored 6:07 into the game off a corner kick to take a 1-0 lead.
Rider senior goalkeeper Alex Post (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks West) made two saves.
Both teams had six shots, although Rider had five shots on goal compared to three for the Peahens. Saint Peter's had three shots in the final minutes of the game, one that hit the cross bar and two that were saved by Post.
"The game wasn't pretty," Hounsome said. "The conditions were really tough with a strong wind, but we got the win and we're very happy about that."
Rider defeated SPC 1-0 in the regular season finale last year in Lawrenceville. The last time Rider traveled to Jersey City (2008) Rider won 2-1. Rider and Saint Peter's have now met 15 times since the series began in 1997 with Rider winning 12. The last time SPC defeated Rider was 2005.
"This win keeps us in the running for the MAAC playoffs," Meier said. "So we have to see where we go from here."
Rider travels to Manhattan Sunday. "If we can perform well we have a good chance," Hounsome said.
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