Friday, September 16, 2023
Rider Broncs (2-1-2, 0-0-0 MAAC) vs. Siena Saints (0-4-0, 0-0-0 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Ben Cohen Field
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoBroncs.com

What You Need To Know
- The Rider University men's soccer team plays host to Siena in the league opener for both teams.
- The Broncs are in the midst of a four-game unbeaten streak, winning the first two on the road at Saint Joseph's and Sacred Heart, before drawing with NJIT (1-1) and Penn (0-0).   
- 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.
- Ethan Shaw leads the Broncs with two goals, both coming in the 2-1 win at Sacred Heart off Saad Chaouki assists. For their efforts, Shaw and Chaouki were named MAAC Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively.
- Chaouki and Adel Al Masude have two assists each to pace the team, with Al Masude also scoring the a goal, the equalizer at NJIT.
- Babacar Diene and Sebastian Rojek also netted goals in the Broncs' 2-0 win over Saint Joseph's.
- First-year goalkeeper Adam Salama has posted a 0.60 goals-against average and an .824 saves percentage in playing all 450 minutes so far this season. He's made 14 saves.
- Rider maintains a 13-12-6 lead in the all-time series with Siena. The two teams split a pair of meetings in 2021, with each team winning on the other's home field. Last season, the Broncs and Saints played to a 2-2 tie in Loudonville.
- Siena has fallen in four-straight games to open the season at Colgate (2-0) at home against Sacred Heart (1-0) and Lafayette (4-1) and at UConn (3-1). Most recently, Siena played 56 scoreless minutes at defending National Champion and current No. 7 Syracuse before heavy rains forced the game to be ruled a No Contest this past Tuesday.
- Jack Mendrysa and Henrik Winkelmann have scored once each for the Saints off assists from Ben Biton and Magnus Saaby to account for Siena's scoring so far this season.
- Freshman Bennet Glinder has seen the majority of time in goal for Siena, starting three of four games and posting a 2.00 goals-against average and .250 saves percentage.   
- The Saints were picked fourth in the MAAC Preseason Poll after finishing fifth and making it to the MAAC Quarterfinals in 2022.
- Rider also returns 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 leads 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 nine-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.