Men's College Soccer
Niagara University 3, Rider University 0
LAWRENCEVILLE-The Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game to Niagara Friday night. "To say this was a tough game would be an understatement," said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso. "We made some bad mistakes at the wrong time."
Niagara (8-4-3, 3-2-2 MAAC) broke a scoreless tie 11:02 into the second half on a penalty kick by Carl Haworth, the only goal the Purple Eagles would need. "Whoever gets the first goal in this game wins the game," Inverso said of his match-up with Niagara. "We pretty much gave them that goal."
Niagara scored again just 1:38 later and Haworth scored his team-high 10th goal of the season on a free kick with 13:41 remaining for the final score.
Rider (3-10-1, 2-4 MAAC) out-shot the visitors 14-9 but had just four shots on goal to Niagara's eight. "I'm not giving up on these guys," Inverso said, "and they aren't giving up on themselves. We just have to be smarter and stop making mistakes at critical times."
Rider junior goalkeeper Matt Perrella (North Brunswick, N.J./N. Brunswick) made four saves. Senior Christopher Pimentel (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) played the final 13:41 in the Rider nets and made one save.
Rider and Niagara tied 1-1 last season. The Broncs defeated Niagara 3-1 the last time the Purple Eagles visited Lawrenceville. These two teams have now met 15 times with Rider holding a 7-6-2 advantage in the series that began in 1997.
Rider hosts Canisius Sunday at 3pm on Senior Day. "We have to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and come back and get a win on Sunday," Inverso said.
Six Broncs playing in their final home game will be honored in a pregame ceremony. "No doubt we want to win that game for our seniors," Inverso said. "They have been great all year."
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