Men's College Soccer
Lafayette College 2, Rider University 1 (2ot)
EASTON, PA--The host Leopards scored in the 105th minute to defeat Rider 2-1 in double overtime Wednesday night. "We battled our tails off tonight," said head coach Charlie Inverso. "I'm really proud of these guys and I think they are proud of themselves. I feel we represented Rider well tonight."
Lafayette (1-0) scored the game winner on a header off of a corner kick.
Rider junior Brandon Sebastian (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Twp.) scored less than five minutes into the second half on a penalty kick to give the Broncs a 1-0 lead.
The goal was the second in the career of Sebastian, a defender and a veteran of 27 Rider games.
Less than two minutes later the Leopards tied the score on a PK of their own. "That, obviously, turned the outcome of the game," Inverso said.
Many in attendance felt it was a 'make-up' call.
"Our PK was a little bit of a grey-area call," Inverso said, "but on their's it appeared the player slipped on the wet grass as he was going out of bounds while our defender trailed him. But that happens on the road and I was proud of the way our guys kept their composure."
Lafayette out-shot Rider (1-1) 16-5, including 5-2 in shots on goal.
Both teams had six corner kicks.
Rider junior goalkeeper Matt Perrella (North Brunswick, N.J./N. Brunswick) made two saves. "Perrella was solid in the goal and our defenders again played very well," Inverso said.
The game was a bit physical, with a total of 33 fouls called and five yellow cards issued. "It was not the kind of soccer we want to play in the future," Inverso said. "The field played slow and neither team could play good soccer. There was no real flow and it was not a pretty game."
Rider and Lafayette have now met 44 times since the series began in 1948 with the Leopards holding a 25-17-2 advantage in the all-time series.
It was the fourth straight year that Lafayette was one goal better than the Broncs. Over the last three seasons Lafayette has defeated Rider 1-0, 1-0 and 2-1. The last time Rider defeated Lafayette was 1988.
"Lafayette is a hard team to play against," Inverso said. "Their talent combined with a slow grass field made it hard for us, for both teams, to keep the ball moving."
Rider and Lafayette were East Coast Conference rivals from 1974-1989.
Lafayette made the Patriot League playoffs eight straight years before finishing 8-7-3 last year and is picked to finish fifth in the league again this year.
Rider travels to Emmitsburg, MD to take on Mount Saint Mary's Sunday afternoon. "It is going to be a tough game," Inverso said, "but we're looking forward to it."
The Broncs will try to begin the season 2-1 for the first time since 2000.
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