PHILADELPHIA – Adel Al Masude (Brussels, Belgium/GO Lyceum Gent) assisted on goals from Sebastian Rojek (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills [Stony Brook]) and Babacar Diene (Thies, Senegal/CEM Ballabey) as the Rider University men's soccer team gave Head Coach Chad Duernberger his first win at the helm of the Broncs Monday night at Saint Joseph's. With the 2-0 victory, Rider improves to 1-1-0, while the Hawks fall to 0-2-0 on the young season.

The Broncs took the 1-0 lead in the 17^th minute as Al Masude sent a free kick along the sideline across the 18-yard box to the far post, where Rojek headed it in for his first goal as a Bronc. Saint Joseph's nearly tied the game in the 30^th minute, as Philipp Wujewitsch's shot hit the crossbar and came nearly straight down before David Ogbonna (Silver Spring, MD/Blake [Villanova]) cleared the ball out of the box.

Early in the second half, the Broncs struck again, as Diene and Al Masude worked a give and go on a counter attack from the defensive third all the way into the box on the other end. Diene rocketed a shot with a defender on his hip underneath the crossbar for the 2-0 lead at 50:37. The support was more than enough for Broncs goalkeeper Adam Salama (Ramle, Israel/Orthodox [Ottawa Univ.]) and the Rider defense, who accounted for four saves and the first clean sheet of the season.    

Quotes & Notes
"I'm really proud of the players tonight. They gave everything they had to secure the win. In order for us to be successful, we have to be confident in scoring goals in different ways. Tonight, we got one off a set piece and the other in transition. I'm proud of these guys to get a win going into an eight-day break where we can rest, get healthy and get ready to go again." – Rider Head Coach Chad Duernberger

- The win is the first for the Broncs under Duernberger, who came to Rider following five seasons as an assistant at Dartmouth. He replaced Charlie Inverso, who retired following 12 seasons at the helm, leading the Broncs to three MAAC Championships.
- The Broncs and Hawks met for the 40^th time, with Rider cutting Saint Joseph's lead in the series to 20-14-6. The Broncs have gone unbeaten in the last four games in the series, posting a 3-0-1 mark since 2013.
- Rider utilized nearly the same starting line-up as the season opener at Seton Hall, with the lone change being Kevin Peprah (Boyds, MD/Northwest) replacing Zaki Alibou (Meknes, Morocco/Meknes), who did not dress tonight.
- Tom Skrocki (Havertown, PA) and Justin Ruffino (Sewell, NJ/Pitman) made their season debuts off the bench.
- Salama, Martin Chladek (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Voderadska [Montevallo]), Rojek, Ethan Shaw (Surf City, NJ/Northern Burlington [St. John's]) and Al Masude each played all 90 minutes.
- It was the second-straight 90-minute effort for Salama, Hladek, Rojek and Shaw.
- Salama made four saves in net for the Broncs in securing his first Rider clean sheet.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Al Masude distributed multiple assists for the second time in his collegiate career following a three-assist effort in the Broncs' win at Fairfield last Oct. 8. He now has 10 assists in his three seasons at Rider.
- The goal was Rojek's first at Rider after scoring two goals – one each in 2019 and 2021 – in his four seasons at Stony Brook.
- After tying for the team lead with three goals last season, Diene scored for the first time this season. Now in his second season in the cranberry and white, Diene has scored four goals as a Bronc.
- Saint Joseph's took a 13-10 edge in shots. However, Rider took a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal.
- Rider took seven corner kicks to the Hawks' six.
- Two Broncs were cautioned in the match, while Saint Joseph's was shown one yellow card.   

Up Next
- The Broncs return to action Tuesday, Sept. 5, when they travel to Fairfield, CT, to take on Sacred Heart. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.