Men's College Soccer
Lafayette College 2, Rider University 1
LAWRENCEVILLE-The Broncs lost the 2010 season opener to Lafayette Wednesday. "I thought we created some chances, we took some shots," said Rider head coach Russ Fager, "but we need to improve on the quality of our shots."
Rider (0-1) tied the score at 1-1 midway through the first half when junior Sal Lubrano (Flemington, N.J.) hit a left-footed blast from 25 yards out. "I wasn't really doing much," said Lubrano, who now has three goals and nine points in his career. "I got the ball, the defender mis-tackled me, and I just took a strike with my left foot. I just cut into the middle and Josh hit it to my right foot. I'm all lefty so I switched it and ripped it."
The blast was from well outside the box. "I was in high school the last time I scored from that distance," said Lubrano, who was a third Team All-State selection at Hunterdon Central, where he scored from 35 yards out in the second overtime victory over Watchung Hills. "I was pretty happy that we tied the score. It felt great."
Lubrano is known more for his assists, after sharing the team lead last season. "My objective is to get a lot of crosses, a lot of assists," Lubrano said. "That's basically what my job is, but I'll take a goal now and then."
"I thought we began to control the game about 25 minutes into the first half," Fager said. "The first half we did some good things."
Freshman Josh Wright (Telford, England) picked up the assist in his first collegiate game. "We got a chance to get some of our younger players out there," Fager said. "That was a positive thing. We were relatively young on the field."
The Broncs started the game with two of their senior leaders on the bench, All-MAAC senior Andrew Cotes (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) and senior captain Jim Bradley (Washington Twp., N.J./Washington Township), who are both coming back from injuries and saw limited action off the bench. "It was good to see Cotes out there today, coming off the back injury, and Bradley played a bit today as well, after knee surgery in the summer."
Lafayette (1-0) took a 1-0 lead just 7:41 into the game on a shot from close range and scored the game-winner with less than 15 minutes remaining off of a direct kick. "They came out and controlled the first 15 minutes," Fager said.
Both teams had 12 shots. Rider had seven shots on goal while Lafayette had six. "I thought the first half was a pretty even game," Fager said, "but they had the better of the play in the second half. They took us out of our flow and we were not doing the things that we needed to do."
Rider sophomore goalkeeper Matt Perrella (North Brunswick, N.J./N. Brunswick) made four saves. Andrew Planko made six saves for the Leopards.
Lafayette defeated Rider 1-0 in the 2009 season opener.
Rider and Lafayette are long-time rivals. The Broncs are 17-24-2 against Lafayette in the series that began in 1948, including a pair of 1-0 losses the last two years. Rider and Lafayette were East Coast Conference rivals from 1974 until 1989.
Lafayette has made the Patriot League playoffs eight straight years and is picked to finish third in the league this year.
Rider now travels to Harrisonburg, Virginia to take part in the Comfort Inn Classic, hosted by James Madison. Rider plays JMU Saturday evening and High Point Monday afternoon.
"JMU is going to be very good and High Point is going to be very good," Fager said. "We have two tough games waiting for us down there. Luckily we are coming back from injuries. Cotes and Bradley are two key members of the team and we have to have them out there."
"We're a real solid team," Lubrano said. "We have a better bench this year, players who can sub in and do just as well as the starters. Our team is real close off the field, we have a great time together, and a road trip like this coming up can be a positive thing for us."
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