Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024
Rider Broncs (11-4-0, 5-1-0 MAAC) vs. Marist Red Foxes (6-7-1, 3-2-1 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Ben Cohen Field
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoBroncs.com

What You Need To Know
- Rider returns to action Saturday, when it welcomes Marist to Ben Cohen Field for a MAAC match at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
- With a win Saturday, the Broncs would clinch at least a top two seed in the MAAC Championships and home games in at least the MAAC Quarterfinals and Semifinals, should they advance.  
- The Broncs have won their last five matches and 11 of their last 13. In the last five, the Broncs have earned road wins at Merrimack (Oct. 5), Fairfield (Oct. 19) and Manhattan (Oct. 30), as well as home victories over Quinnipiac (Oct. 12) and Siena (Oct. 26).
- The last four victories have all been clean sheets for the Rider defense, pushing its season total to seven shutouts. The Broncs have allowed just two goals in six league games, both on penalty kicks.
- The Broncs' seven shutouts match the program single-season record, accomplished twice, including last season. Rider also kept seven clean sheets in 2015.
- Most recently, the Broncs scored twice in a span of 65 seconds to defeat Manhattan, 2-0, on Oct. 30. Bryan Akongo made a run down the left sideline, evading defenders before crossing in front to Ezra Punselie for the tap in from close range in 69'.  Akongo again started things in 70', walling off his defender atop the 18-yard box before passing to Theo Da Silva, who flicked it back to Momo Diop for the strike.
- Momo Diop leads the Broncs with seven goals on the season, which is also tied for the league lead. Along with Bryan Akongo with a team-leading 17 points apiece, the duo is tied with Iona's Sergio Gonzalez Fernandez for the league lead.  
- For his effort in shutting out Siena on five saves, Adam Salama was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28. It was his third honor of the year and the sixth of his career.
- Rider is 6-4-0 this season on the road. The six road wins are tied for most in the country with Kansas City (6-2-2).   
- Adam Salama has posted a 0.65 GAA and a .816 saves percentage through 14 games played this season.
- Rider snapped a winless streak (0-2-2) to Marist since the 2019 season with a pair of wins within a week of each other late last season. The Broncs now lead the all-time series with the Red Foxes, 18-12-3. The Broncs took a 2-1 win in Poughkeepsie last Oct. 28 to clinch a home meeting with the Red Foxes in the MAAC Quarterfinals a week later, which Rider also won by a 3-1 margin en route to the MAAC title.
- Marist is led offensively by Richard Morel with five goals and 12 points. Chris Verheul (3 goals) and Nicholas Sanchez (2 goals) have also contributed multiple goals, while Arion Ulaj (1 goal, 3 assists) is the team's leader in assists. Four others have contributed a goal and an assist.
- Jamie Lowell has seen the majority of time in goal for the Red Foxes, posting a 1.64 goals-against average and a .692 saves percentage.
- The Broncs accounted for consecutive MAAC Offensive Players of the Week on Oct. 14 and 21, with Jack McGeechan and Bryan Akongo earning the honor. McGeechan scored a goal, assisted on another and cleared two shots off the goal line for saves against Quinnipiac (Oct. 12), while Akongo scored the game-winner in a 1-0 victory at Fairfield (Oct. 19).
- After Merrimack scored first on a PK in suburban Boston on Oct. 5, Theo Da Silva and Momo Diop each scored to give the Broncs a 2-1 lead. In the 78^th minute, Merrimack was awarded another PK. But Rider keeper Adam Salama saved it to preserve the 2-1 victory.
- The Broncs extended to a six-match winning streak with a 2-0 win on Sept. 21 against Mercyhurst. Rider's first five wins in the span came at Stony Brook (1-0, Aug. 29), vs. Saint Joseph's (3-1, Sept. 2), at George Washington (4-0, Sept. 7) vs. NJIT (2-1, Sept. 14) and at La Salle (3-1, Sept. 17). It marked the second-straight season Rider has had a six-match winning streak, following the Broncs' seven-match streak to punch their ticket to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
- Momo Diop scored at least one goal in four-straight games during the winning streak, while Bryan Akongo had at least one point in all six wins.
- Adel Al Masude scored his first goal of the year, the game-winner in the 67^th minute at La Salle. Theo Da Silva added his second of the year less than two minutes later. 
- Ezra Punselie earned MAAC Rookie of the Week on Sept. 16 after scoring the equalizer in the Broncs' 2-- Momo Diop earned Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week Honorable Mention after scoring the game-winning goal in the Broncs' 3-1 win over Saint Joseph's (Sept. 2) and adding two more goals in Rider's 4-0 win at George Washington (Sept. 7)
- The Broncs earned their first win of the season, 1-0, on Aug. 29 at Stony Brook on Bryan Akongo's game-winner in the 82^nd minute. Akongo went on to score Rider's first goal in two more wins in a row, striking in the sixth minute against Saint Joseph's (Sept. 2) and just 20 seconds into the win at George Washington (Sept. 7).
- First-year Broncs Theo Da Silva and Ezra Punselie also scored their first goals for Rider in the winning streak, with Da Silva finding the back of the net against Saint Joseph's and Punselie tacking on a goal at George Washington.
- Adam Salama made five saves to secure his first clean sheet of the season at Stony Brook after posting six a year ago. He also combined on a shutout at George Washington, making three saves in more than 83 minutes played before ceding to Diesel Fiore for the final minutes.
- The Broncs enjoyed the fourth-largest improvement in wins (+9) and sixth-largest improvement in winning percentage (+.347) among Division I programs from 2022 to 2023, Rider Head Coach Chad Duernberger's first year leading the program. Rider went from a 3-8-6 mark (.353 winning percentage) in 2022 to a 12-4-4 record (.700 winning percentage), a MAAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2023.
- A year after winning the MAAC while being projected eighth in the preseason poll by the league's coaches, Rider was picked to finish second this year. 2023 MAAC Regular Season Champion Iona was picked first.
- The No. 3 seed in the 2023 MAAC Tournament, Rider won three-straight matches, including two on the road, to win the sixth MAAC Championship in program history. Prior to the tournament, the Broncs had won their final four matches of the regular season to extend to a seven-match winning streak entering the NCAA Tournament.
- Junior Momo Diop returns to the Broncs after earning MAAC Championship MVP. Diop scored a goal in each of the Broncs' three wins in the tournament, was named to the All-MAAC First Team and All-Region Third Team, as well as the 2024 Preseason All-MAAC Team.
- The Broncs had a program-record eight All-MAAC selections last season, four of whom return this season. Along with Diop, fellow First-Team selection Adel Al Masude returns as a major threat on set pieces. Defenders Jack McGeechan and Martin Chladek were also Third Team selections, with McGeechan often pushing forward and Chladek providing a big target in the middle off corners.
- Left off the All-MAAC Team, returning junior goalkeeper Adam Salama saved his biggest performance for the most important moment of the year. With 18 seconds left in the MAAC Championship Game, Salama saved a penalty kick by 2023 MAAC Golden Boot winner Camil Azzam Ruiz to preserve a 2-1 lead. The shot was sent low to the right, with Salama reading it correctly and making a kick save, deflecting the ball atop the crossbar and out of bounds. The clock then expired before the Gaels could attempt a corner kick and the Broncs were crowned MAAC Champions.
- The Broncs' six MAAC Championships are second-most in conference history and most by a current member (Loyola (Md.) – 12). Loyola had won eight-straight MAAC titles prior to the Broncs joining the league in 1997, at which point Rider snapped the Greyhounds' streak and won consecutive championships (1997, 1998). The Broncs' six titles edge Fairfield's five for most among current members.