LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Senior Elliott Otmani (La Ciotat, France/Bonaparte) scored the equalizer in the 58^th minute off a feed from freshman Aaron Gabriel (Louisville, KY) as the nationally-ranked No. 22 Rider University men's soccer team played Canisius to a 1-1 tie Saturday afternoon. With the tie, the Broncs move to 10-3-1 (5-1-1 MAAC), while the Golden Griffins are now 10-3-2 (4-1-2 MAAC).
 
The Griffs opened the scoring in the 34^th minute, as Hunter Walsh got enough of a head on a ball just feet in front of the goal line to sneak it past Rider goalkeeper David Pastuna (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) off a ball played high into the air from the right sideline.
 
Down 1-0 at the half, the Broncs equalized in the 58^th minute as Gabriel did well to possess along the same right sideline before feeding Otmani, who hit a low shot across the mouth of goal inside the far post.
 
Both teams hit the same right post in overtime, with the Griffs' opportunity coming in the first overtime and the Broncs' in the second. Canisius also had a goal wiped away by an offside call in the second overtime.

Quotes and Notes
"Not happy with the result. In the second half, that's the team I know. In the first half, not so good. It's the point in the season where everybody is a little tired and everybody is a little stressed. Five overtime games is a lot to go through. We're still in first place. That's a good team we played. We'll probably see them somewhere down the road. More than anything, we've got to get healthy."
 
"He's (Otmani) a bigtime competitor. That's why I love the kid. He came through with a big goal. We had quite a few opportunities in the second half. We could've had a few more goals. Gabriel's shot that hit the post was a tough one. They hit the post. It was a hard-fought, competitive game. I think both teams played hard." – Rider Head Coach Charlie Inverso
 
- The Broncs own an 11-10-2 edge in the all-time series. However, the Broncs have not won a game against Canisius since 2013. In fact, the Griffs now have a 6-3-2 record against Rider in the last 11 meetings. The two ties have both been of the 1-1 variety in the last two meetings.
- The Broncs entered the game ranked No. 22 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll and No. 24 in the College Soccer News National Poll.
 
Broncs By The Numbers
- The assist capped a three-point week for Gabriel, who also scored his second goal of the year on Wednesday at Siena.
- The goal was Otmani's team-leading eighth of the year and the 22^nd of his career. He matched his single-season high of eight, previously established as a freshman in 2015.
- Pastuna made six saves in the draw.
- Rider took a 22-16 edge in shots, including a 13-4 margin in the second half and a 10-7 advantage in shots on goal.
- Both teams took four corner kicks.