Men's College Soccer

Rider University 3, Bryant University 0

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—Jersey's own Jon Bon Jovi was right when he asked “Who says you can't go home?”

Playing at home for the first time this year, the Broncs defeated Bryant on Alumni Day.

“I wasn't sure we were going to recognize the field,” said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso, after his Broncs played a pair of exhibition games on the road in August and began the regular season with three away games.  “The road makes you tougher but it was really good to be back home.”

Rider junior Florian Valot (Monaco, France) compiled a pair of assists to lead Rider to victory over Bryant Sunday afternoon in the 2014 home opener. “Florian had a good game,” Inverso said. 

Playing in his first season at Rider, Valot set up sophomore Zach Bond (Holmdel, NJ) with a goal 4:05 into the second half. “Bond got a through ball, he snuck in between two defenders, and that's what he's good at,” Inverso said.

“The defender lost the ball, I got it and passed it to Bond, and he scored,” Valot said with his thick French accent.  “It was a very easy pass to make.”

Rider sophomore Christian Flath (Bargeshagen, Germany), a First Team All-MAAC selection last year as the MAAC Rookie of the Year, scored his third goal of the season on a penalty kick to give the Broncs (2-1-1) a 2-0 lead with 31 minutes left to play. “Christian is an important part of what we do,” Inverso said.  “He's a marksman when it comes to PKs.”

Valot sent a crossing pass to sophomore Adrien Huss (Madrid, Spain) who scored his first goal of the season for the final score.

Rider out-shot Bryant (2-4) 11-4, including 7-1 in the second half. “The game started to open up around the 35 minute mark,” Inverso said. 

Rider sophomore David Pastuna (Robbinsville, NJ) made one save.

There was a large crowd on hand for the Alumni Day festivities.  “It is very pleasant to play in front of a lot of fans like this,” Valot said.  “Rider is a great university and I think we have a great team.”

Rider defeated Bryant 2-1 in Rhode Island last year. “Bryant was a penalty kick away from going to the NCAA tournament last year,” Inverso said.  'They are a pretty good team so this is a good win for us.”

Rider is 2-0-1 against Bryant in the series that began in 2011.

Rider returns to Ben Cohen field Sunday, September 21 to host Saint Bonaventure at 12 noon.

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