Box Score Men's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Seton Hall University 1
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ— Seton Hall is named after Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint who began the Catholic parochial school system in the United States.
On Friday night, the Rider Broncs' prayers were answered in the final minutes of the game.
“It was an amazing game,” said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso. “It was an intense game, very emotional, and a great atmosphere.”
Rider scored two goals in the final four minutes for a come-from-behind win here in South Orange.
Of the 565 municipalities in New Jersey, South Orange is one of just four with a village type of government.
And sometimes it takes a village, or at least an entire team. “It was a great team effort,” Inverso said. “On the winning goal it was a mad scramble, there were so many bodies around the ball. For me it was like a team goal.”
Rider sophomore Jose Aguinaga (Madrid, Spain) scored off of a corner kick on an assist from junior Christian Flath (Bargeshagen, Germany) with 10 seconds left for the game-winner. Flath now has two assists this season.
Senior Florian Valot (Monaco, France) scored with 3:09 left in the second half to tie the score at 1-1. It was his second goal of the season. “The ball was bouncing and Flo lobbed it over the keeper's head,” Inverso said.
Seton Hall broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 25th minute of play.
Rider (2-0) out-shot Seton Hall (0-2-1) 12-10, including 6-4 in shots on goal.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Inverso said. “We came out a little passive, and I'll take some of the blame for that with my game plan. We really turned it around at halftime.”
The Broncs out-shot Seton Hall 10-6 in the second half. “I thought they had a little bit better of the first half but the second half was a complete turnaround,” Inverso said. “The second half was all ours. And that's a good sign because Seton Hall is a great program.”
Rider junior goalkeeper David Pastuna (Robbinsville, NJ) made three saves. “Dave had two really big saves in the second half,” Inverso said, “one in particular when we were pressing down 1-0. He had a point blank save that if it goes in the game is over.”
The Rider defense held Seton Hall to just four shots on goal. “Sonimi (senor Sonimi Halliday of Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) and Crust (sophomore Matt Crust, an Ohio State transfer from Redcar and Cleveland, England) were really solid in the back,” Inverso said.
Seton Hall defeated Rider in overtime the last two times these two teams met. The Broncs won here at Seton Hall in 2011. Rider and Seton Hall did not meet last year.
Rider and Seton Hall have now met 25 times since the series began in 1939 with Rider holding a 14-9-2 advantage in the series.
Rider plays at Temple on Tuesday. “Temple was leading Penn State 2-0 tonight so they are going to be a tough opponent,” Inverso said.
With the help of a village, or at least the entire team, and a prayer or two, the Broncs should be ready for Temple.
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