Men's College Soccer
Mount Saint Mary's University 2, Rider University 0
LAWRENCEVILLE-The Broncs lost to The Mount Tuesday afternoon. "I thought our possession of the ball was much better today," said Rider head coach Russ Fager, "but we're still not getting into the final third (of the field) and making good decisions."
The Mount (3-2) took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute of the game and made it 2-0 with 34 minutes left to play.
Chris Wheeler of Newcastle, Australia, the leading scorer in the Northeast Conference (six goals, 12 points), scored both goals for MSM. "We're still giving up a goal a game that is a bit too soft," Fager said.
Rider (0-4) sophomore goalkeeper Matt Perrella (North Brunswick, N.J./N. Brunswick) made four saves.
"I thought our back played much better today," Fager said. "I thought Fitz (sophomore Ryan Fitzgerald of Yardville, N.J./Steinert) had a good game today, getting himself forward."
MSM out-shot Rider 12-10. Both teams had eight corner kicks. "It was a very even game as far as the amount of chances went," Fager said, "but they had a few better chances than we did. We need to get into the final third and get the ball to the right people. We had some chances today that we just didn't pull the trigger on."
Rider and The Mount are former Northeast Conference rivals. The two teams have now met nine times, with MSM holding a 5-4 lead in the series that began in 1992. MSM won the last meeting, 3-2 in the 2003 season opener. The last time Rider defeated The Mount was in 1996 (5-4 OT). The Broncs are 2-2 against MSM in Lawrenceville.
Rider hosts St. Francis-NY Saturday afternoon. "We've got to make a decision," Fager said, "as far as who we are going to be. We've got to pick up our heads begin to work harder in the game. If we can do that Saturday we have a chance of being able to do some good things."
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