Box Score Men's College Soccer
Rider University 2, Marist College 1
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY—On Saturday night, PK stood for 'Pretty Krazy!'
“It was a really gutty win,” Rider head coach Charlie Inverso said. “Our guys just never quit. There is something about this team. These guys are pretty crazy, getting after each other at half time. As coaches we just backed off and let it go.”
Rider junior Jose Aguinaga (Madrid, Spain) scored two goals, both on penalty kicks, to lead the defending champions to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win at Marist Saturday night.
“As long as I have been in soccer I don't know if I've experienced both goals on penalty kicks,” said Inverso, a 30-year college coach and the 2015 Northeast Region Coach of the Year, “and taking place on the road made it even more unusual.”
Pretty Krazy.
Aguinaga scored on a penalty kick to tie the score at 1-1 with 15 minutes left in the second half, and scored on another PK in the 85th minute for a 2-1 lead. “Jose stepped up big,” Inverso said.
For Aguinaga, an All-MAAC and All-Region selection last year, it was his first two goals of the season and the 11th and 12th of his career.
The PKs were the first two of his career, since he is teammates with senior Christian Flath (Bargeshagen, Germany), a three time First Team All-MAAC selection who is nine for nine on PKs in his career but was sidelined Saturday with an injury.
“The best penalty kicker in the country was in the stands and we score both of our goals on PKs,” Inverso said.
Pretty Krazy.
“I thought we played a really good first half,” Inverso said. “We created enough chances and weren't having any luck.”
Marist (7-5-1, 2-3 MAAC) scored in the 44th minute of play on a corner kick to take a 1-0 lead just before half time. “What's been our strength in the past has been defending corner kicks and free kicks and we gave one up,” Inverso said.
Pretty Krazy.
Rider (8-3-2, 3-1-2 MAAC) out-shot Marist 13-9.
Rider senior goalkeeper Ryan Baird (Plainfield, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) made four saves. “Baird made two really crazy good saves,” Inverso said. “He made a point blank shot on another corner kick.”
Rider lost 2-0 vs. Marist last year.
Rider holds a 13-11-1 advantage in the series that began in 1992 when Rider and Marist were conference rivals in the NEC.
Rider hosts Iona Wednesday night at 7pm. “Iona is a great team that had a big win today,” Inverso said. “They play great soccer so it should be a fun game.”
Fun, but not as pretty krazy as Saturday at Marist.
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