LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Babacar Diene (Thies, Senegal/CEM Ballabey) scored a natural hat trick in a span of less than 15 minutes in the second half as the Rider University men's soccer team defeated Saint Peter's, 4-1, on Senior Night Wednesday night on Ben Cohen Field. With the win, the Broncs (9-3-4, 6-2-2 MAAC) clinch the No. 3 seed in the MAAC Championships and will play host to sixth-seeded Marist on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Peacocks end their season at 2-9-5 (1-6-3 MAAC).

The Broncs opened the scoring in the 22^nd minute as Saad Chaouki (Montreal, Quebec/Antoine de Saint Exupery) and Diene worked a give-and-go into the box, with Chaouki finishing low past Saint Peter's keeper Pedro Alves. The Broncs' lead would remain 1-0 for the remainder of the half.

Diene struck first in the 55^th minute, taking a Zaki Alibou (Meknes, Morocco/Meknes) pass, measuring up his defender and beating him into the 18-yard box and rocketing a left-footed shot from outside the left post underneath the crossbar for the 2-0 lead. Just under five minutes later, Diene was there for the rebound of Adel Al Masude's (Brussels, Belgium/GO Lyceum Gent) saved shot for the 3-0 advantage. Less than 10 minutes later, in the 69^th minute, Alibou played Diene into the box and the senior finished on one touch past the charging Peacocks keeper for the 4-0 lead.

Saint Peter's scored their lone goal on a Conlan Paventi penalty kick in the 86^th minute after a takedown inside the box.

Quotes & Notes
"We always talk about getting hot at the right time. We feel we're in a good groove right now with finding results. This win streak is something great. It's where you want to be at the end of the year, going into postseason." – Rider Head Coach Chad Duernberger

- Diene's hat trick was the first by a Bronc in more than nine years. The last Bronc to achieve the feat was Zach Bond on Oct. 22, 2014, also against Saint Peter's.
- The last time a Bronc had as many as seven points in a single game came exactly 21 years ago today, when Sandro DeCristofaro had a hat trick and an assist at Iona on Nov. 1, 2002.
- Rider pushed to a 25-14-3 lead in the all-time series with Saint Peter's. However, the win is the Broncs' first over the Peacocks since 2017 – coincidentally also a 4-1 victory. The two teams had played to ties in each of the last two seasons, while Saint Peter's won the prior to matches in 2018 and 2019.
- 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 last time the Broncs finished as highly as the No. 3 seed in the MAAC Championships was the abbreviated Spring of 2021, when they were the No. 2 seed. The Broncs were last as high as No. 3 in a full Fall season when they were No. 2 in 2017.
- Adam Salama (Ramle, Israel/Orthodox [Ottawa Univ.]) didn't make a save in the game, with the only shot on goal coming on Paventi's PK in the 86^th minute.
- Salama and Justin Ruffino (Sewell, NJ/Pitman) played all 90 minutes.
- Sebastian Rojek (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills [Stony Brook]), the last Bronc to play every minute of every game this season, came off the field for the first time after playing the first 83 minutes of tonight's match.

Broncs By The Numbers
- The goals were Diene's team-leading eighth, ninth and 10th of the season, while the assist was his third of the season. He now has a team-high 23 points. The 10 goals and 25 points are the most by a Bronc since Alibou scored 10 goals and had five assists for 25 points in 2021.
- Diene has now scored in three-straight games and has a point in each of the last four.
- Chaouki's goal was his second of the season to go along with five assists. His nine points rank third on the team.
- Al Masude's assist was his third of the season, giving him 11 points, good for second on the team.
- Alibou now has three assists, good for a tie for second on the team.
- The Broncs took an 18-5 edge in shots, including a 9-1 advantage on target.  
- Rider took nine corner kicks to the Peacocks' four.
- Saint Peter's was cautioned twice, while Rider did not draw a yellow card. 

Up Next
- The third-seeded Broncs will host sixth-seeded Marist in the MAAC Championship Quarterfinals Sunday at 1 p.m. on Ben Cohen Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The MAAC will charge admission to Sunday's match. Stay posted to GoBroncs.com and @RiderMensSoccer on X (formerly Twitter) for more information on Sunday's MAAC Quarterfinal match.