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Sunday, November 14, 2021
No. 5 Rider Broncs (10-7-2) vs. No. 1 Marist Red Foxes (12-6-2)
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY – Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field
Kickoff: 11 a.m.
Tickets: MAACSports.com
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRedFoxes.com

What You Need To Know
- The fifth-seeded Rider University men's soccer team travels to top-seeded Marist for the MAAC Championship Game Sunday morning on ESPN+.
- 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.  
- The Broncs have qualified for the MAAC Championships in eight-straight seasons. Rider won MAAC Championships in 1997, 1998, 2015, 2016 and 2018, while finishing as runner up in 2004 and 2017. Rider's last MAAC Championship came in 2018 as the No. 5 seed.
- Rider is now 19-10-2 all-time in the MAAC Championships.
- The Broncs punched their ticket to the finals with a 2-1 double-overtime win over sixth-seeded Fairfield Thursday night on Ben Cohen Field. Guillermo Pavia Vidal scored the equalizer in the 67^th minute, before assisting on Taner Bay's golden goal in the 109^th minute.
- Rider is 16-11-2 all-time against Marist. The Red Foxes have won the last two meetings, a 4-2 win this past Oct. 13 in Poughkeepsie and a 2-1 decision Oct. 26, 2019, in Lawrenceville.
- The two teams have met just once in the MAAC Championships, a finals pairing in 2004. The third-seeded Red Foxes defeated the fourth-seeded Broncs on Rider's home field.   
- The Red Foxes are known this year for their defense, with Huib Achterkamp earning MAAC Defensive Player of the Year and Sam Ilin taking MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year. Marist has yet to surrender a goal in the MAAC Championships and has a 1.02 goals-against average for the season.
- Stefan Copetti leads Marist offensively with nine goals and 21 points. Kyle Galloway has contributed six goals and a team-high six assists, while Achterkamp has also come forward to produce six goals. Richard Morel (3 goals, 4 assists) and Henrique Cruz (3 goals, 3 assists) have also made strong offensive contributions.
- Ilin has compiled a 1.06 goals-against average and a .736 saves percentage. He has seven shutouts on the year individually, while combining on nine.
- Rider played a man down for more than 57 minutes in the first meeting with Marist following a straight red card on Tyrrell Moore in the 33^rd minute. Marist had just taken a 2-1 lead a minute earlier at the time of the infraction.
- Zaki Alibou was named MAAC Offensive Player of the Year on Nov. 8, earning the honor with a 10-goal, five-assist output this season. Alibou became the first Bronc to earn the honor since the MAAC moved from a single Player of the Year award to Offensive and Defensive honors. Craig Wicken '99 won back-to-back MAAC Player of the Year honors in 1997 and 1998 in leading the Broncs to consecutive league titles in the Broncs' first two years in the MAAC.
- Sergio Aguinaga joined Alibou on the All-MAAC First Team after compiling four goals and a team-high eight assists this season. Meanwhile, Adel Al-Masude and Guillaume Veinante were recognized on the MAAC All-Rookie Team.
- The Broncs are 10-7-2 so far this season, with wins over Central Connecticut, Stony Brook, Fordham, Quinnipiac, Niagara, Fairfield (2), Canisius, Iona and Siena, ties at NJIT and vs. Saint Peter's and losses to Villanova, Saint Francis (Pa.), La Salle, Monmouth, Marist, Siena and Manhattan.
- Rider is 6-0-1 when scoring three goals or more and 5-0-0 when scoring four goals.
- Pablo Gatinois started four of the first five games in net this season, posting a 2.20 goals-against average and a .400 saves percentage. Guillaume Veinante served as the Broncs' starter in the next eight games, posting a 1.89 GAA and .543 saves percentage. Gatinois returned to the starting lineup at Canisius, making seven saves while allowing just one goal before posted his record-tying shutout against Iona and earning a clean sheet in the MAAC Quarterfinals at Siena to claim the record outright.
- Gatinois matched Ryan Baird '16 with his 24^th win as a Bronc against Fairfield in the MAAC Semifinals.  
- Alibou is third in the league in goals (10) and points (26).
- Rider's unbeaten streak ran from Oct. 16-27, including wins in the last three over Fairfield, Canisius and Iona following a tie against Saint Peter's on Oct. 16. Rider twice fell behind, 2-0, to open the streak before rallying for a 3-3 tie against Saint Peter's and 4-3 win over Fairfield. Rider then led throughout in a 4-1 road win at Canisius on Oct. 23 and took a 1-0 win over Iona.
- During the Broncs' unbeaten streak, Sergio Aguinaga scored in each of the three games and added a pair of assists. Two of the goals have come directly off corner kicks. Zaki Alibou also added two goals and two assists, while Adel Al-Masude had a goal and two assists in the span. Francisco Gomez Olano also scored the game-winner against Iona off an Alibou assist.
- Against Iona, Gatinois matched Chip Maruca's program record with his 15^th career shutout. 
- Al-Masude distributed both of his assists in the Canisius game, earning him his second MAAC Rookie of the Week honor on Oct. 25. 
- Rider went down 2-0 for a second-straight game against Fairfield on Oct. 20, but got four second-half goals to take a 4-3 victory. Taner Bay, Zaki Alibou, Sergio Aguinaga and Jeremy Peterson each found the back of the net to secure the comeback victory.
- The Broncs earned a wild 3-3 tie with Saint Peter's in rainy conditions Oct. 16 on Ben Cohen Field. Rider went down 2-0 early in the first half before battling back with goals in the 40^th and 51^st minutes. After Saint Peter's retook the lead 43 seconds after Rider equalized, the Broncs again knotted the game in the 57^th minute to earn a point.
- The Broncs not only contended with the weather, but the injury bug in the tie vs. Saint Peter's. With two of their starting backs departing with injuries in the first half, the Broncs got strong contributions from Tom Skrocki, who not only played a solid defensive game, but scored his first goal as a Bronc while seeing his first significant minutes.
- Sergio Aguinaga added a goal and an assist in the tie with Saint Peter's, while Adel Al-Masude contributed a goal and Zaki Alibou and Kevin Peprah also assisted on Aguinaga's equalizer.
- Zaki Alibou scored his eighth goal of the season in an Oct. 13 loss at Marist. Lenny Cidolit also had a goal and an assist at Marist.
- The Broncs earned a 2-1 win over Niagara on Oct. 9, with Alibou scoring the equalizer early in the second half off assists from Sergio Aguinaga and Guillaume Sarrabayrouse before an own goal in the 84^th minute proved to be the difference. Aguinaga's assist was his sixth of the year.
- Alibou scored his fifth and sixth goals of the year at Quinnipiac, while Sergio Aguinaga dished out three assists. Regis Dulck and Francisco Gomez Olano also scored in the win, with Adel Al-Masude contributing an assist.
- The four-goal output was the Broncs' third of the year and their fourth game in which they've scored at least three goals. Rider has won all four of its games this year in which it's scored at least three goals.
- Following Alibou's three-goal week in wins over Quinnipiac and Niagara, he was named MAAC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 11.
- The Broncs opened MAAC play with a 1-0 double-overtime heartbreaker at Monmouth on Sept. 29, before bouncing back with a convincing 4-2 win at MAAC preseason favorite Quinnipiac on Wednesday. 
- Adel Al-Masude scored twice in the Broncs' 4-3 win over 2020-21 NCAA Qualifier Fordham on Sept. 22. For his effort, he was named MAAC Rookie of the Week.
- Justin Ruffino scored what proved to be the game-winning goal and added an assist in the win over Stony Brook. Lenny Cidolit and Zaki Alibou also scored in the win, while Adel Al-Masude and Jeremy Peterson also contributed assists.
- The Broncs were picked fourth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll. Rider has qualified for the MAAC Championships in each of the last eight seasons, including four MAAC title game appearances and three MAAC Championships in that span.
- Gomez Olano was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. He followed up a two-goal, three-assist performance in 17 games in his first season at Rider in 2019 with a three-assist effort in just five games last Spring.
- The Broncs also return graduate student forward Pablo DeCastro, who's scored 27 goals and registered 61 points over the last four seasons. A two-time All-MAAC Second Team selection, DeCastro scored the game-winning goal in the 2018 MAAC Championship Game at Quinnipiac.
- Rider returned nearly all of its scoring from a year ago, with only Guillaume Vacter's one goal not returning. Vacter transferred to the University of Connecticut.