LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Lindsey Maslow (Hanover, MA/Hanover) scored her team-leading sixth goal of the year in the 12^th minute for the Rider University women's soccer team, but Canisius found the equalizer in 85^th minute and advanced to the MAAC Championship Semifinals on penalty kicks, 4-2, Sunday afternoon on Ben Cohen Field. The result goes as a tie and the Broncs end their season at 8-7-3, while the Griffs (5-4-10) advance to Thursday's MAAC Semifinals at top-seeded Quinnipiac.

Maslow intercepted Canisius' attempt to clear the ball from the six-yard box and scored with her left foot to give Rider the early lead. Still a 1-0 Rider lead into the second half, both teams generated chances early in the second. Rider three shots ring off the crossbar of post between the 59^th and 66^th minutes, while Canisius sent a shot on goal that Rider goalkeeper Ellie Sciancelepore (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) got enough of a Madeline Welton shot to knock it off the crossbar for the save in the 63^rd minute. All told, Sciancalepore made nine of her 12 saves after halftime.

Canisius broke through with the equalizer in the 85^th minute, as Jen Romero finished a Skylar Cornell cross from point-blank range. Canisius kept the pressure on in the two overtime sessions, forcing Sciancalepore to make four more saves in the extra sessions, but neither team could score, sending the decision to PK's.

In the shootout, both teams' first attempts hit the post, before Romero scored on the Griffs' second try. Canisius goalkeeper Jessica Jones saved Anna Barkey's (Parker, CO/Legend [UTRGV]) attempt to give Canisius the advantage and the Griffs made their next three attempts to punch their ticket to the semifinals.

Quotes and Notes
"We gave it a good effort. We scored the goal, got our nose in front, hit the post, hit the crossbar. At that point in time, if one of those goes in, it changes the dynamic of the game. But we didn't. Sometimes the Soccer Gods don't let that happen. Then, when they change their formation to try and squeeze in the last seven or 10 minutes, they were able to capitalize and score a goal. We could've crumbled after that. The legs were shot. It's been a long season. But they kept carrying on playing and I thought we probably had the better of the overtime, to be fair. And then, penalties is penalties.

"Good season. Finishing fourth is a huge accomplishment for us. For our graduating seniors, who've been great, they played in the playoffs every year. Canisius is their first year in the playoffs for those players. So, it's little things like that that we take for granted that we have to be proud of, even when we lose in the quarterfinals." – Rider Head Coach Drayson Hounsome

- The Broncs were making their 10^th-straight MAAC Championship appearance.
- Rider is now 11-14-3 in the MAAC Tournament since the program's first year in 1997.
- The Broncs and Griffs had met just once in the MAAC Championships – a 1-0 Canisius win in the 2010 semifinals in Baltimore. The game represented Rider Head Coach Drayson Hounsome's first MAAC Tournament game in his third season with the Broncs, a year he earned won MAAC Coach of the Year.
- Rider's lead in the all-time series with Canisius now stands at 13-11-3.  
- Canisius continued its impressively stingy defense this season, allowing just its 13^th goal in 19 games. The Griffs have conceded multiple goals just twice this season and only once in MAAC play, a two-goal output from Fairfield on Oct. 15.
- All 10 of the Griffs' ties this season have been 0-0 or 1-1 final scores.
- Romero's three goals this season have all come against Rider – two in a 2-1 win on Sept. 17 in Buffalo and the equalizer today.
- Sciancalepore made 12 saves to match her season high, also accomplished against Fairfield (Oct. 8) and at Quinnipiac (Oct. 12).   
- Sciancalepore, Genevieve Ryan (Auckland, New Zealand/Mount Albert Grammar School) and Olivia Smith (Rutherford, NJ/Rutherford) each played all 110 minutes, while Gabriela Garcia (Caracas, Venezuela/U.E. La Salle La Colina [Iowa Western C.C.]) and Makenzie Rodrigues (Seattle, WA/Forest Ridge) also eclipsed 100 minutes played.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Maslow's sixth goal of the year put her alone in the team lead, passing Rodrigues. The goal was the seventh of her career and pushed her point total to 22.   
- Canisius took 24 shots in the game to the Broncs' 13 and enjoyed a 13-3 edge in shots on goal.
- Three of Rider's shots caromed off the crossbar or post, all in the second half.
- The Griffs took six corner kicks to the Broncs' two.
- Both teams were cautioned three times.