LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Babacar Diene (Thies, Senegal/CEM Ballabey) scored for the second-straight game, but the Rider University men's soccer team fell to Mount St. Mary's, 3-2, Wednesday night on Ben Cohen Field. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 2-8-3 (1-3-2 MAAC), while the Mountaineers improve to 7-6-1 (3-3-1 MAAC).

The Broncs opened the scoring in the 23^rd minute as Nick Cruz (Monroe Township, NJ/Saint Joseph [Rutgers]) collected a loose ball atop the 18-yard box and unleashed a shot inside the right post. But the Mountaineers would get a Jesus Salazar goal in the 31^st minute off a poor clearance, before The Mount scored the go-ahead goal in the 38^th minute. Ian Buckwalter crossed from left to right, with Nathan Macek playing the ball down to the feet of Ethan Glaser, who ripped a shot from 15 yards for the 2-1 lead.

Diene would equalize in the 51^st minute, knocking in the rebound of Regis Dulck's (Strasbourg, France/Univ. of Strasbourg) saved shot. But just over a minute later, Kofi Amoah scored what proved to be the game-winning goal off Salazar's initially-saved shot at 51:34.

Quotes & Notes
"Everybody worked hard. We were a little unlucky. We outshot them. But too many breakdowns in the back. And that's been our Achilles heel all year." – Rider Head Coach Charlie Inverso

- Mount St. Mary's leads the all-time series with Rider, 7-4. The last time Rider had played Mount St. Mary's was the third game in 12^th-year Rider Head Coach Charlie Inverso's first season leading the Broncs in 2011. Again conference foes after joining the MAAC for the 2022-23 academic year, Rider's last win over Mount St. Mary's came when the two schools were Northeast Conference foes in 1996. Mount St. Mary's has now won the last four pairings in 2003, 2010, 2011 and 2022.  
- Guillaume Veinante (Bayonne, France/Faculte des métier de Rennes) made his 13th-straight start in net and made three saves.
- Veinante, Diene, Dulck, Lenny Cidolit (Montpellier, France/Montpellier Univ.), Jack McGeechan (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands Regional), Guillaume Sarrabayrouse (Toulose, France/Pierre Paul Riquet), Jeremy Peterson (Paris, France/University Paris Sorbonne) and Adel Al Masude (Brussels, Belgium/GO Lyceum Gent) each played all 90 minutes.
- Rider played without reigning MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Zaki Alibou (Meknes, Morocco/Meknes) for the 10th time in the last 12 games due to injuries.   

Broncs By The Numbers
- Cruz's goal was the first of his collegiate career, which includes four seasons at Rutgers and this year with the Broncs. He'd previously four points on assists with the Scarlet Knights.
- Diene has now scored in consecutive games to tie Al Masude for the team lead with two goals.
- Dulck's assist was his first of the season.
- Rider outshot Mount St. Mary's, 21-14, but the Mountaineers put eight of their shots on target to the Broncs' seven.
- Both teams took four corner kicks.
- The Broncs were shown a pair of yellow cards, while The Mount was not cautioned in the game.

Up Next
- The Broncs return to action Saturday, when they host Marist on Senior Night. Prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff on Ben Cohen Field, the Broncs will honor their five-member senior class of Cruz, Dulck, Peterson, Matthew Brummet (Dundalk, MD/Archbishop Curley [George Washington]) and Ryan Dougherty (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley [Lipscomb/St. John's]).