Sunday, November 11, 2018
#5 Rider Broncs (9-9-1) vs. #2 Quinnipiac Bobcats (10-5-3)
Location: Hamden, CT – Quinnipiac Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium
Kickoff: 12 p.m.
Live Video – MAAC.TV
Live Stats – QuinnipiacBobcats.com
Tickets – MAACSports.com
 
What You Need To Know
- The Broncs have reached the MAAC Championship Game for the fourth-straight year, becoming just the third program in MAAC history to make four-straight MAAC Championship Game appearances. Rider joins Loyola (1989-97) and Fairfield (1998-2002).
- Rider is making its seventh MAAC Championship Game appearance in 22 years in the league. The Broncs are 4-2 in Championship Games, having won titles in 1997 (Loyola), 1998 (Fairfield), 2015 (Monmouth) and 2016 (Quinnipiac), while falling to Marist in 2004 and Fairfield in 2017.  
- Rider qualified for the MAAC Championships for the fifth-straight season on the strength of wins in each of its last two games of the regular season over Siena and Canisius, and took 2-0 wins at No. 4 Iona in the quarterfinals and at No. 1 Fairfield in the semifinals.
- The Broncs are 15-8-2 in 25 all-time MAAC Tournament contests covering 12 berths.
- Graduate student Elliott Otmani became the third Bronc in program history with 30 goals and 20 assists, scoring his 30^th career goal and tallying his 22^nd career assist in the MAAC Semifinals at Fairfield. He scored the game-winning goal to join the exclusive club, which consists of Rider's all-time leading scorer, Craig Wicken '99 (49 goals, 24 assists), and 1972 All-American Bobby Smith '72 (46 goals, 20 assists). He now stands tied for seventh all-time in goals with Anselmo Bryan '90 and alone in sixth with 22 assists, two behind Wicken, Mike Stasiulaitis '94 and Len Matysek '62 (24 each) in a tie for third in Rider history.
- Otmani has now registered a point in all eight of Rider wins this season against MAAC foes with five goals and eight assists in those eight games. He's had both a goal and at least one assist in four games, while registering either a goal or assist in the other four. Only once did Otmani find his way into the point column when the Broncs' lost – Oct. 13 against Fairfield, when he had a goal and an assist.
- Rider has posted shutouts in each of its last four games, defeating Siena, 5-0, and earning 2-0 wins at Canisius, Iona and Fairfield. Since the Broncs' 2-1 loss on Oct. 17 at Quinnipiac on a pair of goals in the final seven minutes, Rider has allowed just two goals and just one in the run of play (Oct. 24 vs. Saint Peter's) in the last six games. The other came on a penalty kick at Monmouth (Oct. 20). Pablo Gatinois has been in goal for each of the Broncs' six shutouts this season.
- MAAC Regular Season Champion Fairfield allowed only eight goals this season to MAAC foes. Four of them were conceded to the Broncs. Rider snapped Fairfield's 20-game unbeaten streak against league competition, dating back to Sept. 30, 2017.
- After scoring three goals as a redshirt freshman in 2017 and being sidelined through non-conference play due to injury this year, Mathis Catanzaro got Otmani's game-winner at Fairfield started with a beautiful thru ball in the box to Taner Bay, who crossed to Otmani. He then tallied his first goal of the year as the beneficiary of a tremendous Otmani thru ball to Sergio Aguinaga for the cross and finish.
- Rider is 2-0 in MAAC Tournament penalty-kick shootouts. The 10th-seeded Broncs advanced past No. 7 Manhattan in 2003 first round and won a shootout against Siena, 3-1, in the 2016 semifinals.
- The Broncs dropped a heartbreaker, 2-1, to the Bobcats on Oct. 17. Rider scored the game's first goal in the 61^st minute, when finished a Borja Ares Ortiz cross. Still leading with seven minutes remaining, MAAC Player of the Year Eamon Whelan scored twice in a span of less than six minutes to give Quinnipiac the 2-1 victory.  
- Quinnipiac stopped a five-game Rider winning streak in the series, and cut the Broncs' lead in the all-time series to 5-3. Rider is 2-2 in games at Quinnipiac, with both wins coming in 2016, including the MAAC Championship. However, the Broncs took both wins on Quinnipiac's former grass surface, before the Bobcats moved into the turf Quinnipiac Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium last season.  
- Rider is 2-0 against Quinnipiac in the MAAC Championships, defeating the Bobcats in the 2015 Quarterfinals at ESPN's Wide World of Sports and the 2016 Championship Game in Hamden.    
- Quinnipiac is 7-1-2 at home this season, with the lone loss coming in the season opener against Boston College on Aug. 24. The Bobcats are 5-0-1 against MAAC foes at home this year. The tie came last time out in a wild 3-3 MAAC Semifinal draw with No. 3 Marist. The Bobcats advanced with an 8-7 advantage in 10 rounds of penalty kicks.   
- Led by MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Eamon Whelan, the Bobcats have five All-MAAC selections. Rashawn Dally and Jeppe Haehre joined Whelan on the First Team, while Dejan Duric and Jordon Bennett took All-Rookie Team honors.
- Whelan leads Quinnipiac with 13 goals, including four game winners, and 30 points on the year. Dally has added six goals and a team-best six assists. Matthew Taylor is next in line with three goals and eight points, while Haehre (1 goal, 3 assists) and Simon Hillinger (4 assists) have also made strong contributions offensively.   
- Jared Mazzola has seen the majority of action in net for Quinnipiac, posting a 0.88 goals-against average with an .838 saves percentage and four shutouts in 13 starts. However, Chrysostomos Iakovidis got the start on Oct. 17 against Rider, making two saves in the win.    
- Four Broncs – Coco, Arthur Herpreck, Emmanuel Kouma and Otmani were named to the All-MAAC Second Team on Nov. 6.
- Sylvain Coco scored his third goal of the year for the game-winner in the 74^th minute in the MAAC Quarterfinals at Iona and Pablo DeCastro added his team-leading seventh goal in the 85^th minute.
- Elliott Otmani assisted on Coco's game winner at Iona for his then-team-leading ninth of the year.
- The Broncs opened MAAC play with three-straight wins over Iona, Marist and Niagara before suffering three-straight heartbreaking losses on game-winning goals in the last six minutes of regulation or overtime against Manhattan, Fairfield and Quinnipiac. Rider got back in the win column on Oct. 20 with a 2-1 road win at hOURglass rival Monmouth before falling to another in-state foe Saint Peter's, 1-0, on Oct. 24. Rider ended the league slate with 5-0 and 2-0 clean sheets against Siena and Canisius, respectively.
- Fairly appropriately, DeCastro tied Otmani for the team lead with his sixth goal at Canisius. Otmani scored his sixth in the prior match at Siena on a PK that DeCastro drew. This time, DeCastro finished the chance awarded after Otmani was taken down inside the box.
- Otmani was named MAAC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this year and the fifth time in his career on Oct. 29 after scoring a goal and dishing out two assists against Siena.
- Clement Bourret registered his first points of the year with a goal and an assist on Sylvain Coco's game-winning goal on Oct. 20 at Monmouth.
- Rider Head Coach Charlie Inverso earned the 500^th win of his collegiate coaching career on Sept. 29 at Marist. He earned the first 434 victories in his 24-year tenure as Head Coach at Mercer County Community College, before winning 66 games since becoming Head Coach of the Broncs in 2011.
- Otmani and Pablo Gatinois were named MAAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, on Oct. 1 following the Broncs' wins over Iona and Marist. Otmani scored and assisted in each of the two games, while Gatinois shut out the Red Foxes, including a stop on a penalty kick, and posted a 0.50 goals-against average for the week.
- After scoring just twice through the season's first seven games, Rider scored seven goals in the next three games.
- After not registering a point in the first 44 games of his collegiate career, Kouma picked up assists in consecutive games against Marist and Niagara on Sept. 29 and Oct. 3.
- The Broncs took a 1-0 win on Sept. 8 at La Salle on DeCastro's goal off an assist from Otmani.
- Gatinois earned his first start, win and shutout in the 1-0 clean sheet at La Salle. Gatinois made one save.
- Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Garret Potter started his first three games this season following the graduation of former keeper David Pastuna. Potter made five saves in the three games. He got another start at LIU Brooklyn and made six saves.
- After opening the season with a 1-1 tie against Fairleigh Dickinson on Aug. 24, the Broncs fell to NJIT, 1-0, on a goal in the 88^th minute. Otmani scored on a PK in the 11^th minute against NJIT.
- Potter, Guillermo Pavia Vidal and Borja Ares Ortiz each made their Rider debuts against FDU.  
- The Broncs returned nine starters from a team that advanced to the MAAC Championship Game for the third-straight season in 2017.
- Otmani was named to the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, representative of collegiate soccer's top individual honor.
- Rider has won four MAAC Championships in its 21 years in the league, including back-to-back titles in its first two years in the league (1997-98) and 2015-16.