Men's College Soccer-MAAC Quarterfinals
Fairfield University 1, Rider University 0
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA-The Rider University men's soccer season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World Resorts.
"I couldn't be prouder of these guys," said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso. "We have nothing to hang our heads about."
The top-seeded Stags took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute of play, the only goal needed, picking up a loose ball in the goal area. "It was kind of a weird goal," Inverso said. "It was kind of a mix up."
Rider (4-13-2, 2-6-1 MAAC) out-shot Fairfield (10-4-1, 8-0-1 MAAC) 12-11, "For large stretches of the game we out-played them," Inverso said.
"I know our record is not very good," Inverso said, "but we had many games that could have gone either way." Rider suffered 10 one-goal losses this year. "That can be difficult to deal with, but from where we came from since we started to where we are now is a positive thing. We wanted to put our stamp on this program, in terms of how we were going to do things, how we are going to play. We definitely accomplished that goal."
Fairfield had eight shots on goal to Rider's four. "We had three excellent chances," Inverso said.
In the first half junior Dan Friga (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Tech), who scored the game-winner on Thursday in the first round win over Canisius, had a shot inside the box that was deflected by a Fairfield defender just over the cross bar and freshman Matt Veltri (Mays Landing/Oakcrest) hit the crossbar. "Veltri hit the post and Friga had a shot that just went wide," Inverso said.
Rider junior goalkeeper Matt Perrella (North Brunswick, N.J./N. Brunswick) made seven saves.
Rider played the final 21 minutes of the game a man down due to a red card. After the red card, Fairfield out-shot Rider 4-2. "We were attacking their goal up until the final seconds, even being a man down," Inverso said.
Rider led Fairfield 2-1 on October 2 before the Stags tied the score with 56 seconds remaining, and Fairfield won the game in overtime.
Rider and Fairfield have now met 20 times since the series began in 1996 with Rider winning five, the last Bronc win coming in 2004.
Saturday is an off day for the teams to enjoy Disney World. The semifinals are Sunday at 11am and 1:30 pm, with the MAAC Title Game Monday at 12 noon.
"I think the future for our program is looking bright,"' Inverso said. "Things are looking up and I think the rest of the league saw that we're trying to play good soccer. We did a good job down here."
This was Rider's eighth appearance in the MAAC Tournament. Rider won the MAAC Championship Tournament in 1997 and again in 1998, Rider's first two years in the MAAC.
Normally a four-team tournament, the MAAC Championships are a 10-team tournament every four years when it is held in Florida.
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