Men's College Soccer
Rider University 1, Seton Hall University 0
SOUTH ORANGE-The Broncs defeated Seton Hall in the Rider head coaching debut of Charlie Inverso Friday night. "These guys left it all on the field tonight," Inverso said. "It is a tribute to these guys and their hard work."
Rider senior Jonathan Burd (Kendall Park, N.J./South Brunswick) scored on an assist from junior Ryan Fitzgerald (Yardville, N.J./Steinert) to give the Broncs a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute of play.
"Fitz put in a perfect ball and that was it," said Burd, who scored his third career goal on a header off of a corner kick. "Everyone was ecstatic. First game under Coach Inverso, against a Big East team, and we're up 1-0. What a great way to start the season."
"We got the corner kick goal and it wasn't our plan to sit back and defend but when Seton Hall started pushing a lot of guys forward, and they are a great possession team, so we had to weather the storm for the whole second half," Inverso said, pun intended with hurricane Irene approaching.
"Fitz delivered the ball and 'JB' got in on it," Inverso said. "Something we practice pretty much every day."
"We practice that all preseason and Fitz put it right on point," Burd said.
The last time Rider defeated Seton Hall was 1968.
"This is very much a pleasant surprise," Inverso said of his debut. "I had no idea what to expect going in. We had a couple of good practices going in and I'm usually uptight before a game and I wasn't nervous today. I told the guys not to be intimidated because it was a Big East team. Just go out and play."
Rider junior Matt Perrella (North Brunswick, N.J./N. Brunswick) made three saves for his sixth career win and second career shutout. "Perrella made the saves he had to make and made all the plays he had to make," Inverso said.
The Rider defense held off the strong attack by the Big East Pirates.
"Being my first win I wanted to dedicate it to my family and to my late friend, Brian Welsh (former Rider player)," Inverso said. "I know he would have enjoyed it as much as anybody. He was my best friend."
Seton Hall (0-1-0) outshot Rider (1-0-0) 15-7, but Rider had four shots on goal to Seton Hall's three.
"The defense was excellent," Inverso said. "(sophomore Eric) Elgin (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley), (senior) Corey Diamond (East Brunswick/U. of New Hampshire) and (senior) Sal Lubrano (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon Central) were great and (freshman) Jens Warncke (Lohne, Germany) was just outstanding. He was probably the player of the game."
Rider and Seton Hall have now met 22 times since the series began in 1939, with the Broncs holding a 13-7-2 advantage. The last time these two teams met was the 1993 season opener, a 6-1 Seton Hall victory.
"The guys followed the game plan and did a great job," Inverso said. "They worked hard and deserved to win. This is a great win against a great team."
Rider also began the 2008 season 1-0 but lost the last two season openers.
"The guys are happy about the win but they took it in stride," Inverso said. "They are enjoying this."
Rider travels to Lafayette Wednesday for a 7pm contest. Rider began the last two seasons with one-goal losses to Lafayette.
"I want these guys to enjoy this for a while and then we have to prepare for a good, tough team in Lafayette," Inverso said. "We'll be ready."
-ru-
