Men's College Soccer

Rider University 3, Fairfield University 0

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ— The game was billed as Offense vs. Defense.

Rider entered the game ninth in the nation in goals per game, with 17 in seven games.

Fairfield entered the game ranked seventh in the nation in goals allowed, giving up just three in seven games.

It is said that “Offense wins games, defense wins championships.”

“Fairfield is the team that wins the conference championship almost every other year,” said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso.  “They really spanked us the last two times we played them (both by 3-0 scores). This was a really good win.”

On Wednesday night, in front of over 600 fans coming out for Code Cranberry, the Rider offense won a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game. “Just a great effort by our guys tonight,” Inverso said.

For Rider (4-2-2, 1-0 MAAC), freshman Jose Aguinaga (Madrid, Spain) collected a rebound off of a blocked shot and scored his first collegiate goal 12 minutes into the second half for a 1-0 Rider lead.

“That's not bad when you can bring in a guy like Jose off the bench,” Inverso said.  “We've got some gifted guys up front.”

With Aguinaga scoring tonight, nine different Broncs have found the back of the net this season. “He stepped up the pressure on their center backs and that led to the first goal, the pressure that we put on the center back.”

“I didn't even realize it was a goal,” Aguinaga said.  “I'm happy it went in. It gave me confidence. We worked very well together today. I think we out-worked them and that led to the victory.”

“Our goal at half time was to step up the pressure,” Inverso said.

Sophomore Adrien Huss (Madrid, Spain) took a pass from senior Ryan Walsh (Chesterfield, NJ/Northern Burlington Regional) and gave Rider a 2-0 lead 10 minutes later. “That was a beautiful goal,” Inverso said.

“I got the ball from Ryan and I just shot it and it went in the upper corner,” Huss said.  “They are one of the best teams in the country for not allowing goals, but we are one of the best teams in the country right now for scoring goals.”

Rider sophomore Christian Flath (Bargeshagen, Germany) scored on a penalty kick to put the game away with five minutes remaining. “Jose drew the penalty and Christian has been real good with those PKs,” Inverso said.

A preseason All-MAAC selection, Flath entered the game ranked tenth in the nation with 13 points in seven games and 18th in the nation with five goals in seven games. 

Flath is now four for four in PKs, including two this year.

Rider now has 20 goals on the season in eight games. Last year Rider scored a total of 21 goals in 18 games.

The last time Rider defeated Fairfield was 2004. The two teams have now met 22 times since the series began in 1996, with Rider winning six.

Rider out-shot Fairfield (3-3-2, 0-1 MAAC) 13-3, including 9-0 in the second half.

Rider sophomore goalkeeper David Pastuna (Robbinsville, NJ) made two saves.

Fairfield goalkeeper Matt Turner came into the game ranked eighth in the nation in goals against average and was fifth in Division I in save percentage. Wednesday Turner made one save while allowing three goals.

Offense wins games, defense wins championships.  Since Rider won back-to-back MAAC Championships in 1997 and 1998, Fairfield has won four, including 2011 and 2008.

Fortunately, Wednesday night was not for a championship, it was just another MAAC game.  When Rider's offense won the game.

Rider hosts Iona in a MAAC game Saturday at 1pm. “We'll enjoy this one tonight and then start gearing it up for Iona,” Inverso said.  “Iona is another great team.”

“It was so great to play in front of such a great crowd today,” Huss said. “I hope a lot of them come back and watch us play Saturday.”

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