Box Score Women's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Marist College 2 (2 o.t.)
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—You live by the header, you die by the header and sometimes you tie by the header.
The Broncs came from behind twice on header goals to tie Marist in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. “I feel we played well and possessed the ball for good periods of the game,” said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome. “We scored two good goals and I feel the players responded well. We showed good character coming back from two deficits.”
Marist (1-5-1, 0-0-1 MAAC) took a 1-0 lead 6:44 into the game on an own goal, as a ball deflected off of a defender's head. “I haven't seen an own goal in ages,” said Rider sophomore Hollie Kelsh (Lancashire, England/Sandbach), who scored to tie the game at 1-1. “It was tough; it just deflected off of her head. There was nothing she could have done about it. It was just one of those things.”
Rider (5-2-1, 0-0-1 MAAC) tied the score at 1-1 on the goal by Kelsh, heading in a pass from sophomore Michelle Iacono (Merrick, N.Y./Calhoun). “Hollie scored a really good goal,” Hounsome said. “Last year she was not the strongest header of the ball but it is something we worked on. She has really improved on that part of her game, so to see that today was great.”
“Michelle was out wide and she put a really good ball into me and I just got my head on it,” said Kelsh. “Last season heading was not one of my strong points so I worked on it over the summer. It has obviously improved.”
The Broncs tied the score at 2-2 when junior Tara Ballay (Delran, NJ/Delran) headed in a pass from freshman Ellie Smith (Norwich, England/Norwich City).
The goal was the seventh of the season for Ballay, who entered the game ranked 19th in the nation in points per game and 23rd in Division I in goals.
“We knew we had the quality to bounce back,” Kelsh said.
Marist out-shot Rider 19-15, including 3-0 in overtime.
Rider sophomore goalkeeper Bethany-May Howard (Glastonbury, England/Bridgwater College) made eight saves.
The tie ended Rider's three-game winning streak and snapped Marist's four game losing streak. “Sometimes a draw (tie) at home feels like a loss,” Hounsome said. “You need to get your wins at home in the conference.”
Rider ended Marist's season last year in the MAAC playoffs. “We've improved a lot since last year so I'm confident if we see Marist in the playoffs again we can win,” Kelsh said.
“Marist is a tough team to play so I don't know if I want to see them in the playoffs,” Hounsome said. “But like last year if we do beat them in the playoffs this year I'll be very happy.”
Marist is picked fourth in the MAAC Preseason Poll, while Rider was picked tied for fifth place.
Rider and Marist have now met 19 times since the series began in 1997, with the Red Foxes winning 11 and with Rider winning seven. This was the first tie.
Rider travels to Fairfield Saturday for a 7pm contest.
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