Friday, August 31, 2018
Rider Broncs (0-0-1) vs. NJIT Highlanders (2-0-0)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Ben Cohen Field
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Live Video – BroncVision
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
 
What You Need To Know
- Friday's game will be the second of two New York Red Bulls Nights. Giveaways will be available and the New York Red Bulls Freestyle Crew will put on the halftime show.
- Rider opened the season on Aug. 24 with a 1-1 tie against Fairleigh Dickinson. Elliott Otmani scored on a PK in the 11^th minute. The goal was the 24^th in Otmani's career.
- Garret Potter got the first start in goal this season following the graduation of former keeper David Pastuna. Potter made three saves.
- Potter, Guillermo Pavia Vidal (Madrid, Spain/La Salle Sagrado Corazon) and Borja Ares Ortiz (Entrambasaguas, Cantabria, Spain/Universidad Europea del Atlantico) each made their Rider debuts against FDU.  
- NJIT is 2-0 so far this season, with wins at home over Sacred Heart and Navy. Rene White has a pair of goals, while Victor Gomez has also scored once. Andrew Nino has assisted on all three of the Highlanders' goals. Goalkeeper Victor Pujades has posted a 0.50 goals-against average and an .800 saves percentage.
- The Broncs return nine starters from a team that advanced to the MAAC Championship Game for the third-straight season in 2017.
- Included in the returning cast are a pair of players who accounted for 17 of the Broncs 30 goals a year ago in Elliott Otmani (9 goals, 2 assists) and Pablo DeCastro (8 goals, 3 assists).
- Otmani was named to the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, representative of collegiate soccer's top individual honor.
- In addition to Otmani, an Academic All-America First Team honoree, backs Arthur Herpreck and Emmanuel Kouma return after joining Otmani on the All-Region Team.
- Six of Rider's league-high seven All-MAAC selections from a year ago return, including First-Team honorees Otmani, Kouma and Sylvain Coco, Second-Teamers DeCastro and Arthur Herpreck and All-Rookie Team selection Mathis Catanzaro.
- The Broncs' two losses to the starting line-up will not be easy to replace – Second-Team All-American and program assists record-holder Jose Aguinaga, who was drafted 85^th overall by the New York Red Bulls, and goalkeeper David Pastuna, a five-year member of the Broncs who finished his career with 30 wins and 12 shutouts, good for second and third in program history, respectively.   
- Otmani, Coco and Kouma were selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.
- The Rider defense limited the opposition to a 0.99 goals-against average in 2017, while the offense produced 1.49 goals per game.
- 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.