Sunday, November 5, 2023
MAAC Championship Quarterfinals
#3 Rider Broncs (9-3-4, 6-2-2 MAAC) vs. #6 Marist Red Foxes (6-7-3, 4-4-2 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Ben Cohen Field
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Tickets: GoBroncs.com
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoBroncs.com

What You Need To Know
- The third-seeded Rider University men's soccer team plays host to sixth-seeded Marist in the MAAC Championship Quarterfinals Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
- Tickets are being sold by the MAAC for Sunday's match. Adult tickets are $10, while children under 12, students and seniors (65+) will be admitted for $5. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets prior to arrival by visiting the link above. While tickets will be available at the gate, the event is CASHLESS. Only credit and debit card payments will be accepted.  
- The Broncs have now qualified for the MAAC Championships in nine of the last 10 seasons following a one-year hiatus in 2022. 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 2021, with the Broncs playing top-seeded Marist to a 2-2 draw as the No. 5 seed, before the Red Foxes advanced on PK's.
- 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 is 19-10-3 all-time in the MAAC Championships.
- The Broncs and Red Foxes have met twice in the MAAC Championships – the 2004 and 2021 finals. Marist advanced on both occasions – a 2-0 win in 2004 and on PK's following a 2-2 tie in 2021.
- Rider leads the all-time series with Marist, 17-12-4. Prior to the Broncs' 2-1 win this past Oct. 25, the two teams had played to consecutive 2-2 ties, including the 2021 MAAC Championship Game. Rider's last win over Marist on Ben Cohen Field came in 2013, a 3-1 win. The Broncs are 0-2-2 against the Red Foxes in Lawrenceville in their last four meetings.
- The Broncs enter the MAAC Championships playing some of their best soccer of the season and riding a season-long four-game winning streak. During that time, the Broncs have outscored the opposition, 8-2. Babacar Diene scored five of the goals, assisted on two more and started the play that resulted in the remaining goal, but did not receive an assist because Momo Diop was ruled to have evaded a defender.
- Diene had a hat trick and added an assist in the Broncs' 4-1 win over Saint Peter's in the regular-season finale. It was the Broncs' first hat trick 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 prior, when Sandro DeCristofaro had a hat trick and an assist at Iona on Nov. 1, 2002.
- Diene now has a team-high 10 goals and 23 points. The totals are the most by a Bronc since Zaki Alibou scored 10 goals and had five assists for 25 points in 2021.
- The 2023 season has seen its ebbs and flows for the Broncs. Following a season-opening setback at Seton Hall, the Broncs reeled off eight-straight games unbeaten, posting a 5-0-3 mark. Rider went winless in its next three, including losses to Manhattan and Iona, before turning it back around with four-straight wins over Niagara, Mount St. Mary's, Marist and Saint Peter's.
- The Broncs are in their first year under Head Coach Chad Duernberger. Duernberger comes to Rider following five seasons as an assistant at Dartmouth. He replaces Charlie Inverso, who retired following 12 seasons at the helm, leading the Broncs to three MAAC Championships. Just seven matches into Duernberger's first year, the Broncs eclipsed their win total from 2022.
- First-year goalkeeper Adam Salama has posted a 1.07 goals-against average and a .738 saves percentage in playing all but one match so far this season. He's made 45 saves. He's earned MAAC Defensive Player of the Week three times, the latest coming on Oct. 30, after allowing just one goal in a pair of wins at Mount St. Mary's and Marist.
- Diesel Fiore earned the shutout victory in his Rider debut on Oct. 21, making two saves to maintain the clean sheet against Niagara.
- Marist is led offensively by Jared Juleau (4 goals, 3 assists) and Richard Morel (5 goals, 1 assist) with 11 points apiece. Skyler Cunha (2 goals, 3 assists) and Adam Rustami (1 goal, 3 assists) have matched Juleau's team lead in assists, while Joergen Thue Kristiansen has also scored twice.
- Luca Bulfon has seen every minute in net for the Red Foxes this season, posting a 1.31 goals-against average and a .720 saves percentage. He has two shutouts.  
- Ethan Shaw scored his third goal of the year in a 2-0 win over Fairfield on Sept. 24.
- Babacar Diene scored in a 1-1 tie at Quinnipiac on Sept. 30 for his third goal of the year to tie him with Shaw for the team lead. Diene went on to score twice in a 5-3 loss to Iona to take the team lead with five goals, extended his total to seven with goals against Mount St. Mary's and Marist and ended the regular season with a hat trick against Saint Peter's to get to double digits.
- Adel Al Masude pulled into a tie for second on the team with Shaw with his third goal of the season in a 2-2 tie at Canisius. He then took over sole possession of second with the game winner against Niagara on Oct. 21. Luke Kirilenko also scored his second goal of the season against the Griffs.
- Saad Chaouki scored his first goal as a Bronc on Sept. 24 against Fairfield. Adam Salama's punt found Diene's head in the midfield and Diene played in to Chaouki in stride for a 1-v-1 opportunity. He added his second goal of the year in the regular-season finale against Saint Peter's.
- Chaouki earned his team-leading fourth assist of the season at Canisius, playing David Ogbonna wide before Ogbonna's cross found Al Masude in front. The assist was the first of Ogbonna's collegiate career. Chaouki later pushed his assist total to five, helping set up Diene's game winner at Mount St. Mary's.
- For his effort in consecutive clean sheets against Penn and Siena, Adam Salama was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18. Salama made it consecutive honors on Sept. 25 following a 3-1 win over La Salle on Sept. 19 and a 2-0 win over Fairfield on Sept. 24.
- Six different Broncs figured in the scoring in Rider's 3-1 win over La Salle. Martin Chladek, Babacar Diene and Justin Ruffino scored goals off assists from Ethan Gregory, Zaki Alibou and Dylan Kotch as the Broncs battled back from down, 1-0, and a 1-1 tie at the half to earn the 3-1 win.
- Luke Kirilenko scored his first collegiate goal, the game-winner, in the 64^th minute of a 1-0 win over Siena on Sept. 16. Jack McGeechan and Momo Diop assisted on the play.
- Both of Ethan Shaw's goals in the 2-1 win at Sacred Heart came off Saad Chaouki assists. For their efforts, Shaw and Chaouki were named MAAC Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively on Sept. 11.
- Adel Al Masude scored the equalizer at NJIT.
- Diene and Sebastian Rojek also netted goals in the Broncs' 2-0 win over Saint Joseph's.
- Rider returned 2021 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Zaki Alibou following an injury-riddled 2022 campaign that saw him play just 87 minutes in two games due to injury. In 2021, he led the Broncs with 10 goals and five assists, helping Rider to the MAAC Final.
- Al Masude led a group of four returning starters, along with Diene, Jack McGeechan and Tom Skrocki. Al Masude tied for the team lead with Lenny Cidolit at three goals and four assists last season. Diene also tied for the team lead with three goals last season, while McGeechan contributed three assists.
- The Broncs entered a period of transition in goal, with Ben Collins being the only returner to see action in net for Rider (three games off the bench in 2022) entering the season. Diesel Fiore was also on the roster last season, while Salama entered competition following a season at Ottawa University, an NAIA school in Arizona.
- Rider was picked eighth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
- The Broncs qualified for the MAAC Championships in eight-straight seasons before missing the field in 2022. Rider won MAAC Championships in 1997, 1998, 2015, 2016 and 2018, while finishing as runner up in 2004, 2017 and 2021.