Women's College Soccer
Canisius College 1, Rider University 0
LAWRENCEVILLE-If there is one thing that the casual fan does not like, it is that in soccer, more so than any other sport, a team can dominate play and not win the game. "Coaches don't like that either," said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome.
Despite out-shooting the visiting Golden Griffins 21-10, the Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game to Canisius Sunday afternoon.
"We had enough chances to win, good chances to win," Hounsome said. "Soccer is just one of those games. You just don't know. Sometimes you get those chances and they just don't go in."
Canisius (8-4, 2-0 MAAC) scored with just 18:23 left to play, when Kelly Reinwald picked up a loose ball in the box and scored from eight yards out.
Rider (5-4-2, 1-1 MAAC) dominated play, holding a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks as well as twice as many shots as the visitors, and Rider had eight shots on goal compared to five for the Golden Griffins.
"We played well," Hounsome said. "We put in a good performance against another strong, conference team. That's all we can do. As long as we go out and put our best foot forward, be the best team on the field, the majority of the games we'll end up winning."
The loss was the first of the season for Rider on its home turf. The Broncs came into the game with a 9-1-1 record in its last 11 home games.
"I think we can take a lot of heart and credit for our performance today," Hounsome said. "If we compare our performance today to the game 12 months ago and it is night and day. We weren't in that game at all."
Canisius beat Rider 3-1 last year in Buffalo.
"We got so many strong performances today that it is hard to single out any one individual," Hounsome said. Freshman Bridgette Bartkowski (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) had four of Rider's 21 shots, including three on goal.
"Bridgette up top is causing teams a lot of problems because she is so good at holding the ball up and laying it off," Hounsome said.
Rider senior goalkeeper Alex Post (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks West) made four saves.
Rider and Canisius have now met 14 times since the series began in 1997, with Canisius holding a slight 7-6-1 advantage in the series. The last time Rider defeated Canisius was 2006. The Golden Griffins finished in fifth place in the MAAC in 2009 and advanced to the MAAC Tournament semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Loyola.
"Canisius is a good team," Hounsome said. "They are a strong, physical program." Canisius had 17 fouls compared to 12 for Rider on Sunday.
"They have some talented players and dangerous forwards. I think today, we were the stronger of the two teams. I think that showed in the stats. We controlled the tempo. They are a good team and if we could have gotten a result it would have been massive for us."
Rider travels to Marist for a MAAC game Friday night. "All we can do is perform," Hounsome said. "If we perform the winning side of things will eventually fall into place."
-ru-
