POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Babacar Diene (Thies, Senegal/CEM Ballabey) and Momo Diop (Thies, Senegal/Prive Serigne Touba) scored first-half goals as the Rider University men's soccer team defeated Marist, 2-1, to secure at least the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Championships and a quarterfinal home game next Sunday on Ben Cohen Field. The Broncs improved to 8-3-4 (5-2-2 MAAC), while the Red Foxes dropped to 6-6-3 (4-3-2 MAAC).

The match's first 10 minutes featured a flurry of activity. The Red Foxes drew a PK in the fifth minute, but for the second-straight match, Adam Salama (Ramle, Israel/Orthodox [Ottawa Univ.]) made a kick save on the attempt from Skyler Cunha. But after Salama's free kick from inside the 18-yard box went short, Adam Rustami dispossessed the Broncs and beat Salama 1-v-1 inside the right post. But in the 10^th minute, Saad Chaouki (Montreal, Quebec/Antoine de Saint Exupery) played the ball toward the top, right corner of the 18 to Diop and Diene took it from him, spinning through traffic into a 1-v-1 opportunity from the right post with Marist goalkeeper Luca Bulfon before beating the keeper low for the equalizer at 9:05.

With less than two minutes left in the first half, Diene intercepted a pass at the edge of the Broncs' attacking third and led Diop, who struck from 25 yards out inside the right post for the 2-1 lead. Neither team would score in the final 45 minutes and the Broncs secured the 2-1 victory.

Quotes & Notes
"I'm extremely happy for the players today. They stuck together throughout the entire match. When we started the season on the road with four-straight away games, I told the players it would only prepare us for later on in the season when we would need three points on the road in the MAAC. This group continues to amaze me. We had a lot of great individual efforts tonight and I'm happy to see this team continue to grow late in the season." – Rider Head Coach Chad Duernberger

- Rider leads the all-time series with Marist, 17-12-4. The last two prior meetings were 2-2 ties. However the first tie resulted in Marist taking the 2021 MAAC Championship Game on PK's. Rider's last win over Marist came Sept. 29, 2018, in Poughkeepsie.
- Rider will host a MAAC Tournament game for the first time since 2021, when the fifth-seeded Broncs enjoyed home field in the semifinals after defeating fourth-seeded Iona on the road and both sixth-seeded Fairfield and seventh-seeded Monmouth pulled upsets in an experimental eight-team tournament field. Rider would go on to reach the MAAC Championship Game before tying, 2-2, and falling on PK's in the title match at top-seeded Marist.
- The Broncs can finish as high as the No. 3 seed with a win Wednesday over Saint Peter's paired with an Iona win over Manhattan. Rider can finish no lower than the No. 4 seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker gained via the win over Marist tonight.
- Salama made two saves in his seventh win of the season.
- Salama, Jack McGeechan (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands Regional), Tom Skrocki (Havertown, PA), Chaouki, Sebastian Rojek (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills [Stony Brook]) and Ethan Shaw (Surf City, NJ/Northern Burlington [St. John's]) each played all 90 minutes.
- It was the 15th-straight 90-minute effort for Rojek to begin the season, while Salama, McGeechan and Shaw have played every minute in 14 of 15 matches.

Broncs By The Numbers
- The goal was Diene's team-leading seventh of the season and the 10th in his two seasons as a Bronc. He's scored in consecutive games and has a point in each of the last three.
- Diop scored for the first time in two years as a Bronc.
- The Broncs took a 15-9 edge in shots, including a 7-3 advantage on target.  
- Marist took six corner kicks to the Broncs' three.
- Both teams were cautioned three times. 

Up Next
- The Broncs return to action Wednesday, when they play host to Saint Peter's on Senior Night. Kickoff from Ben Cohen Field is scheduled for 7 p.m. on BroncVision.