Box Score Men's College Soccer
La Salle University 2, Rider University 1
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ— The La Salle varsity teams are known as the Explorers. The University is named after St. John the Baptist de La Salle, however, not Sieur de La Salle, the French explorer of the 1600s.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was the Rider coaching staff that was exploring for answers, on the defensive end of the field.
Despite out-shooting the visitors 12-8, including 7-4 in shots on goal, the Broncs lost to La Salle Tuesday afternoon. The loss was just the third at home in the last 13 regular season games on the Ben Cohen Field.
“Today's game was disappointing,” said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso. “I think we had the majority of the play, the majority of the chances.”
Rider (3-2) tied the score at 1-1 when junior Christian Flath (Bargeshagen, Germany) scored on a penalty kick with less than three minutes left in the first half.
For Flath, who entered the game ranked third in the nation in assists per game with four in the first four games, it was his seventh career goal on a PK in seven tries.
La Salle (3-3) took a 1-0 lead with a header in the 13th minute of play and scored the game-winner with another header off of a corner kick just 7:12 into the second half. “We fell asleep a couple of times defensively and to me that was the critical point of the game," Inverso said. "We say all the time that we have to defend corner kicks like our lives depend on it and we didn't do that today.”
Rider hit the post for the fourth time in the last two games. “I think we were unlucky on a couple of chances,” Inverso said. “We've hit four posts and probably had another four cleared off the line, but we won't use those as excuses. We have to defend better.”
Rider junior goalkeeper David Pastuna (Robbinsville, NJ) made two saves.
Rider and La Salle have not met since the 2007 season when Rider won 4-1 in Lawrenceville. Rider and La Salle were East Coast Conference rivals in the 1970s and '80s. The two teams have now met 20 times with the Explorers holding an 11-8-1 advantage in the series that began in 1966.
“For us to be a winning team, to be able to shoot for a championship, these are the kind of games that can't get away from us,” Inverso said. “For me, this is a game we should have won.”
Rider travels to Bryant University on Sunday. “Bryant is a good team,” Inverso said. “They lost in their conference final on penalty kicks last year. We are going to have to be ready, and I think we will be.”
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