LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Three different Broncs scored as the third-seeded Rider University men's soccer team cruised to a 3-1 win over sixth-seeded Marist in the MAAC Championship Quarterfinals Sunday afternoon on Ben Cohen Field. With the win, the Broncs (10-3-4) advance to the semifinals, to be played Thursday afternoon at second-seeded Siena, while Red Foxes end their season at 6-8-3.

Babacar Diene (Thies, Senegal/CEM Ballabey) opened the scoring in the 15^th minute, squaring up his defender at the top, left corner of the 18-yard box and delivering a rocket into the opposite, right upper 90 for the 1-0 lead at 14:03. His countryman, Momo Diop (Thies, Senegal/Prive Serigne Touba) would work a give-and-go in the box with Saad Chaouki (Montreal, Quebec/Antoine de Saint Exupery) in the 39^th minute, with Diop finishing Chaouki's cross from close range for the 2-0 lead, which would hold until the halftime horn.

The lead grew to 3-0 as Luke Kirilenko (McKinney, TX/Impington International College [Virginia]) finished Zaki Alibou's (Meknes, Morocco/Meknes) from the top of the 18-yard box in the 63^rd minute. The play was started by Diene with some slick dribbling along the sideline at the midfield stripe to spring Alibou to the corner of the box. Marist's lone goal came on a Jared Juleau penalty kick in the 84^th minute following a takedown inside the box.

Quotes & Notes
"Pleased. Really happy for this group. It's been all about us. We showed a scout on Marist, but we really focused on us late in the game here. We tried to give us confidence to be big in these moments. I was really happy with the start of the game. I felt like we lost a little bit at the beginning of the second half, but the goal really helped get us back in the front with three on the board. Overall, I'm just pleased how we finished the game." – Rider Head Coach Chad Duernberger

- Rider is now 20-10-3 all-time in the MAAC Championships.
- The Broncs and Red Foxes had 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 now leads the all-time series with Marist, 18-12-4. 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 broke a four-game winless streak against Marist on Ben Cohen Field, going 0-2-2 against the Red Foxes in Lawrenceville in their prior four meetings.
- The Broncs qualified for the MAAC Championships for the ninth time in 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 hosted 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.
- Adam Salama (Ramle, Israel/Orthodox [Ottawa Univ.]) made five saves in goal to earn the win for the Broncs.
- Salama, Jack McGeechan (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands Regional), Martin Chladek (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Voderadska [Montevallo]), Sebastian Rojek (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills [Stony Brook])
and Ethan Shaw (Surf City, NJ/Northern Burlington [St. John's]) played all 90 minutes.

Broncs By The Numbers
- The goal was Diene's team-leading 11^th of the season. Alon with his three assists, he now has 25 points, the most by a Bronc since Alibou scored 10 goals and had five assists for 25 points in 2021. The last time a Bronc compiled more than 25 points in a single season was 1998, when Craig Wicken had 45 points (18 goals, 9 assists).
- Diene has now scored in four-straight games and has a point in each of the last five.
- Chaouki distributed his team-leading sixth assist of the year.
- Kirilenko scored for the third time, while Diop has now scored twice, with both coming against Marist in the Broncs' last three games.
- Alibou now has four assists, including one in each of the last two matches. His four assists are second on the team.
- The Broncs took a 15-9 edge in shots. However, Marist edge Rider in shots on goal, 6-5.  
- Both teams took five corner kicks.  
- Seven Marist players were cautioned in the match, while three Broncs were shown yellow cards.   

Up Next
- The third-seeded Broncs will travel to second-seeded Siena for the MAAC Championship Semifinals Thursday at 1 p.m. on Hickey Field in Loudonville, NY. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.