Friday, April 25, 2025
#8 Rider Broncs (7-9, 3-5 MAAC) vs. #5 Niagara Purple Eagles (7-10, 5-3 MAAC)
Location: New Rochelle, NY
Time: 12:00 PM
Live Stats: IonaGaels.com
Broadcast: ESPN+
 
What You Need To Know
- Friday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
- The Broncs finished the regular season 7-9, after winning their final three games reach the MAAC Tournament. Last time out, the Broncs defeated Quinnipiac, 16-13, behind hat tricks from Katie Walsh (Marlton, NJ/Camden Catholic[FDU-Florham]), Selena Carrington (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North[Rutgers]), and Elena Bontatibus (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury).
- The Broncs were picked to finish eighth this season in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
- The Broncs qualified for the MAAC Tournament for the first time in program history, qualifying as the eight seed in the tournament.
- Walsh was named to the pre-season All-MAAC Team after earning Second-Team All-MAAC honors a season ago. She is currently second in the MAAC at 6.63 draw controls per game, and sixth in the conference at 2.94 goals per contest. She earned MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring six goals and adding two assists, three draw controls, and two ground balls in the season-opening win against FDU.
- Carrington is second on the team and eighth in the MAAC this season at 2.47 goals per game. She scored a hat trick in the season opener, then followed that with a five-goal performance at Temple. After scoring five goals and adding an assist in the win over Akron, Carrington earned MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
- Elizabeth Shean (Seal Beach, CA/Los Alamitos) is third on the Broncs with 23 goals and is second on the squad with 13 assists on the season. She recorded her first career hat trick against Bucknell, then added two goals against Rhode Island with an assist in both games to earn MAAC Rookie of the Week honors, then followed that with two goals and two assists against Iona to earn the award in back-to-back weeks. She won the award for the third time this season after scoring three goals against Mount Saint Mary's and twice against Niagara and is the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week after scoring three goals against Manhattan and adding two goals and an assist against Quinnipiac.
- Bontatibus leads Rider with 17 assists this season, and is third on the team with 9 points. The sophomore is one of six Broncs to have over 20 goals this season, the most of any team in the MAAC. Only Fairfield (5) has more than four 20-goal scorers in the conference this year.
- Anna Devlin (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City[TCNJ]) is currently third on the team with 23 goals this season, Devlin is second on the Broncs and sixth in the MAAC at 3.94 draw controls per game.
- Emma Barborak (Lakeville, MN/Gentry Academy[FDU-Florham]) has 16 caused turnovers this season to lead the Broncs. Erin Collins (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan[FDU-Florham]) has added 12 and three Broncs each have 10.
- In goal, Jamie Kubach (Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter[FDU-Florham]) and Avery May (Auroa, CO/Grandview) have split time this year with Kubach getting 13 starts so far this season. Kubach has posted a 13.07 goals against average with a .403 save percentage in 633 minutes with May posting a 12.49 goals against average and a .349 save percentage. Kubach has a 5-7 record in cage with May's record sitting at 2-2 on the year.
- Behind draw specialist Marissa Ross (Reisterstown, MD/Beth Tfiloh[FDU-Florham), the Broncs currently lead the MAAC and rank 11^th nationally at 16.75 draw controls per game. Rider also leads the MAAC and is 12^th in the country, winning 58.9% of draws taken this season.
- Rider's roster features players from 12 different states, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
- Evan Mager is in his second season as the coach for the Broncs, following three seasons at FDU-Florham where he compiled a 34-7 record, including a 16-0 record entering the NCAA Division III Tournament in his second season in 2021. After that season he was named MAC Freedom and IWLCA Boardwalk Region Coach of the Year.
- The Broncs were defeated by Niagara, 9-8, in overtime during the regular season this year. Shean scored with just over two minutes remaining in regulation to force the extra session, but Niagara's Maddy Gill scored her fifth goal of the contest just over two minutes into the extra session to give the Purple Eagles the victory.
- Niagara finished the regular season 7-10 overall and 5-3 in league play. Gill leads the MAAC with 51 goals this season, but the Purple Eagles are built on their defense with Sydney Huhtala ranking second nationally in both ground balls (3.88) and caused turnovers (3.41) per game. Haley Terry is third in the nation with 159 saves on the year.