LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Senior midfielder Guillermo Pavia Vidal (Madrid, Spain/La Salle Sagrado Corazon) scored the equalizer in the 67^th minute and assisted on Taner Bay's (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) golden goal in the 109^th as the fifth-seeded Rider University men's soccer team defeated sixth-seeded Fairfield in the MAAC Championship Semifinals Thursday night on Ben Cohen Field. With the win, the Broncs (10-7-2) advance to Sunday's MAAC Championship Game at top-seeded Marist.

Fairfield took a 1-0 lead in the 34^th minute as Thomas Drillen headed Jonathan Filipe's free kick from the midfield into the left upper 90. Still a one-goal Stags lead into the 60^th minute, Fairfield was dealt a blow when Joseph Stocchetti was shown his second yellow card of the game and the Stags were forced to play a man down. Fresh off the bench in the 67^th minute, Pavia Vidal's first touch resulted in the equalizer. Fairfield goalkeeper Will Marment punched out a Rider corner kick. Pavia Vidal struck from 20 yards out, top left of the 18-yard box, sending it low through the box and inside the right post.

Still a 1-1 game into the 85^th minute, the teams were put at even strength when Jack McGeechan (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands Regional) was red carded for a handball while denying a scoring chance, 1v1 with a Fairfield striker with only Rider goalkeeper Pablo Gatinois (Madrid, Spain/Lycee Francais de Madrid [Oregon State]) ahead of the play.

The two teams played the remainder of the second half and the first overtime scoreless. In the 109^th minute, Pavia Vidal again collected a corner kick sent out of the box by the Fairfield defense. He evaded a defender and sent a thru ball into the box, setting up Bay for the 1v1 opportunity with Marment. Bay went low past Marment's right hand and inside the left post for the game winner.    

Quotes & Notes
"More than anything, it's just incredibly rewarding to see Taner. This is a guy who does everything the right way. He wants to go to med school after this year, this is the guy you try to model your program after. For him to get a goal like that, I couldn't be happier."

"I say this after every game – the staff, the assistant coaches were amazing today. The adjustments they made in the game were really, really great. Throwing (Guillermo) in and the next thing you know, he scores. Listen, where this team has come from in about a month and a half is amazing. We were in a free fall. These guys didn't like each other too much. It all turned around. Everybody stopped being self-centered and now they love each other. And that's the best thing. It was exciting. The fans were great. I thank them all for coming out and I couldn't be more appreciative." – Rider Head Coach Charlie Inverso

- Rider cut Fairfield's lead in the all-time series to 20-11-3 and are unbeaten in their last five against the Stags (3-0-2). Two of the wins in the span have come in the MAAC Semifinals and Rider now owns a 5-3 edge in MAAC Tournament games against Fairfield.
- The Broncs return to the MAAC Championship Game for the eighth time in 26 years in the MAAC. Most recently, Rider made it to four-straight Championship Games from 2015-18, winning the league title in 2015, 2016 and 2018.  
- Rider is now 19-10-2 all-time in the MAAC Championships.
- The Broncs and Marist have met just once in the MAAC Championships, a 2-0 Red Foxes win in the 2004 title game.
- Marist advanced to the MAAC Championship Game by virtue of a 1-0 win over seventh-seeded Monmouth on Gracindo Bernardo goal in the 81^st minute.
- Gatinois made one save in the win. The win was his 24^th with the Broncs, tying him with Ryan Baird '16 for fourth all-time at Rider.
- The game featured eight yellow cards – five to Rider and three to Fairfield.  
- Rider played without a pair of starting backs - Sergio Aguinaga (Madrid, Spain/Antonio Dominguez Ortiz) and Jeremy Peterson (Noisy Le Grand, France/Sorbonne Paris Nord).
- Gatinois, Lenny Cidolit (Montpellier, France/Montpellier Univ.), Regis Dulck (Ostwald, France/Lycee Jean Monnet Strasbourg), Taner Bay (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) and Guillaume Sarrabayrouse (Toulose, France/Pierre Paul Riquet) each played all 108+ minutes.  

Broncs By The Numbers
- Bay scored his third goal of the season. Two have been game winners (Fordham, Sept. 22).
- Pavia Vidal entered the game with one goal and no assists on the season and two goals in his career. Tonight's assist on the game winner was the first assist of his Rider career.  
- Rider outshot Fairfield, 16-5, including a 9-2 edge in shots on goal.   
- The Broncs took nine corner kicks to the Stags' three.        
- Bay and Francisco Gomez Olano (Cadiz, Spain/Univ. of Cadiz) led Rider with three shots on goal apiece.

Up Next
- The Broncs travel to Poughkeepsie, NY, to take on top-seeded Marist in the MAAC Championship Game. Kickoff from Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field is scheduled for 11 a.m.