Women's College Soccer
Canisius College 1, Rider University 0
Rider Season Ends in MAAC Semifinals
BALTIMORE, MD-The 2010 season came to an end Friday when the fourth-seeded Broncs lost to the top seed, Canisius, in the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship tournament. "We played a great game, a fantastic game," said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome, the MAAC Coach of the Year.
Sophomores Abi Cottam (Leominster, England/Ludlow) and Meghan Mohr (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem) were named to the All-Tournament team.
Canisius (14-6, 7-2 MAAC) had just one shot on goal, and made it count. "We dominated play," Hounsome said. "They had the one shot and the one goal. Our possession was significantly higher."
First Team All-MAAC forward Brianna Smith scored her 15th goal of the season to give Canisius a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute of play. It was the third shot of the game by the Golden Griffins. "She (Smith) did well with the finish," Hounsome said. "I think our defensive line handled her well. She has scored a lot of goals. She's a dangerous player. We handled her well but that is what makes good forwards. They have the ability to score that one goal that makes a difference."
Rider (9-8-2, 5-4 MAAC) out-shot Canisius 16-8, including 7-3 in the second half. Rider had three corner kicks to one by Canisius. Rider had six shots on goal to Canisius' one.
"It's a disappointing way to end the season," Hounsome said, "playing the game the way we did but not being able to score. It feels like we ended the season a few days too soon."
For Rider the game was a bit of déjà vu. Rider lost 1-0 to Canisius on October 3 despite out-shooting the Golden Griffins 21-10 in that contest. "I would actually say that we dominated even more today than in that game," Hounsome said.
Rider and Canisius have now met 15 times since the series began in 1997, with Canisius holding an 8-6-1 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 semifinals, losing to eventual champion Loyola.
Rider freshman Bridgette Bartkowski (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee), a member of the MAAC All-Rookie team, had five shots, three on goal. Freshman Jennifer Meier (Sayville, NY/St. Anthony's), also a member of the MAAC All-Rookie team, played all 90 minutes and also had five shots, two on goal.
The nine wins was the most for the Broncs since 2004, which was also the last time the Broncs finished the regular season among the top four teams in the MAAC. Rider was picked to finish ninth in the MAAC this season, with 20 players either freshmen or sophomores on the roster.
"I'm sure in a week or two we'll be able to look back and see that it was a solid season," Hounsome said. "We achieved a lot of the goals we set for ourselves. But our biggest goal was to be playing in the finals, and we feel just short of that one."
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