Women's College Soccer

Rider University 2, Quinnipiac University 0

HAMDEN, CT— There is an old sports adage that says “There is only one thing harder than winning a championship.  Defending it.”

The Rider Broncs, the 2014 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions, began defense of their title on Saturday by starting the 2015 MAAC season with a win.

Rider junior Caroline Healy (Dublin, Ireland/Alexandra College) and freshman Sam Picinich (North Bellmore, NY/Mepham) scored and junior goalkeeper Bethany-May Howard (Glastonbury, England/Bridgwater College) recorded her third straight shutout, leading Rider to victory at Quinnipiac Saturday.

“We scored a couple of really good goals,” said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome. “This is a tough place to come and play.”

Rider lost 2-0 here at Quinnipiac in 2013.  “Between the travel and playing on a different surface makes it challenging,” Hounsome said. “The players battled hard.”

Picnich took a pass from freshman Kourtney Cunningham (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and scored her first collegiate goal to give Rider a 2-0 lead nine minutes into the second half. “Sam started for the first time, due to our injuries,” Hounsome said, “and she did well. She won lots of headers. Kourtney was dangerous out wide and they couldn't really stop her, which was nice. She laid the ball off for Sam and she bent it away from the keeper into the net.”

Healy took a pass from sophomore Alanna McDougall (Valley Stream, N.Y. /Valley Stream North) and scored her second goal of the season and her third career goal to give Rider a 1-0 lead with 6:36 left in the first half.  “Caroline scored a really good goal,” Hounsome said.  “She had a fantastic first half. She played forward the first half before moving to midfield in the second half.  Alanna did some nice work on that goal.”

Howard made 10 saves for her third straight shutout and her ninth in the last two seasons. “Beth had a really good game,” Hounsome said.  “We've tightened things up defensively. We defended well. We denied them any real good opportunities.”

Howard, the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week last week, ranks seventh in the nation in saves per game. She entered the game ranked second in the MAAC with an .842 save percentage.

Quinnipiac (4-3, 0-1 MAAC) out-shot Rider (4-3, 1-0 MAAC) 16-9, including 10-7 in shots on goal. QU had nine corner kicks to just one for Rider. “Last year we gave up eight goals on set pieces so that is something we have focused on, really worked hard on, and we are much better at defending those set pieces,” Hounsome said.

Rider is 2-0-1 in the last three MAAC openers. “With the injures we have and just 14 outfield (non-goalies) players healthy, we were hoping to get something out of the first two games,” Hounsome said.  “We lost to Quinnipiac the last time we were here so to get three points (for a win) is a great start.”

Rider returns to MAAC action when the Broncs play at Marist September 26. “The last time we went to Marist we lost 5-0 so we have work to do,” Hounsome said.  “If we compete and battle we'll have a solid chance to getting a good result.”

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