Box Score Women's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Siena College 0
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—The Broncs defeated Siena in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon. “I thought it was a pretty efficient performance,” said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome, “against a good team.”
Rider (7-5, 4-2 MAAC) got the only goal it needed on a corner kick in the 40th minute of play. Freshman defender Meghan McCabe (Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa) got her head on a corner kick from junior Hollie Kelsh (Lancashire, England/Sandbach) and scored her third goal of the season.
Kelsh ranks among the national leaders in assists with a MAAC-high seven. “Holly crossed it in and I was able to run to the ball and headed it in,” said McCabe. “All of my goals come on set pieces, but I think this was my first header. I had one earlier in the season but they called off sides.”
“That is something we've worked on a lot,” Hounsome said of the set piece. “Meghan is the youngest player on the team but she does things that some other player can't. She has her height (5'11”) but she is also very aggressive to the ball. We know she is a threat on attacking set pieces. She caught it beautifully today and the keeper didn't have a chance to save it.”
With 13 minutes remaining in the second half, sophomore Shannon Kelly (Mineola, N.Y. /Kellenberg Memorial) took a pass from freshman Kourtney Cunningham (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and kicked the ball into the net off of a Siena defender.
Rider out-shot Siena (6-5-2, 2-3 MAAC) 9-6. “I thought we controlled the game from start to finish,” Hounsome said. “It was just an all-around solid performance by a good team.”
Rider junior goalkeeper Bethany-May Howard (Glastonbury, England/Bridgwater College) made two saves for the shutout, her sixth of the season and 12th in two years.
“The defense was really good,” Hounsome said, “really strong today. Beth didn't have a whole lot to do today.”
“I think getting the shutout means more to me than scoring the goal,” McCabe said. “We have great offensive players so my job is to play defense. Getting a shutout means everything to us defenders.”
Howard ranks eighth in the nation in saves and 21st in the nation in save percentage. She also ranks third in the MAAC in goals against average.
The Broncs beat Siena in the 2014 MAAC Playoffs at Rider. During the regular season Rider and Siena tied 0-0 last year in Loudonville, NY. The last time Siena came to Lawrenceville the Broncs won 1-0 in 2013. “Since I've been here we've never won by two goals over Siena,” Hounsome said.
Rider now leads the all-time series with Siena 9-8-4.
With the win Rider is now 4-0 at home and is 17-2-3 in the last 22 home games. “It is great playing at home,” McCabe said. “The crowd is always great here.”
Rider hosts Niagara Wednesday for an early afternoon game beginning at 1:30. “It is an early game to give Niagara a chance to get back home,” Hounsome said. “Niagara was a playoff team last year that we lost to during the season so we know the importance of this game.”
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