VILLANOVA, PA – The Rider University men's soccer team fell to Villanova, 5-0, over a two-day period Thursday and Friday to open the 2025 season. With the loss, the Broncs open the season at 0-1, while the Wildcats improve to 1-0.

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute on Thursday, connecting passes in the box, before Sam Nyenka finished from the doorstep. Less than four minutes later, the Broncs initially stopped another Wildcats scoring chance, with a defender clearing a shot off the goal line. But a later shot in the series was ruled to have been blocked by a hand ball following a very lengthy video review. Fynn Lahrsen scored on the resulting penalty kick to put Villanova on top, 2-0, in 12'.

In the 19^th minute, VAR would be implemented to determine whether there was a hand ball inside 18-yard box against Villanova. During the review, an alert to an active shooter situation was issued and the teams left the field to shelter in place. The match would be resumed Friday.

Upon resumption of play, officials did not award the PK and the next 20-plus minutes were scoreless until Luke Martelli put Villanova up, 3-0, in the 41^st off a Luke Haggerty assist. The Wildcats' lead remained 3-0 at the half.

The Villanova lead increased to 5-0 on a Gleb Bogdanov goal in 68' and Nyenka's second in 75'.

Notes
- The match began Thursday at 4 p.m., was halted during a VAR review in the 19^th minute due to an active shooter alert and resumed Friday at 4 p.m.
- The Wildcats have won the last three meetings with the Broncs, closing Rider's lead in the all-time series to 5-4-0.
- Ben Collins (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) started in goal for the Broncs and made two saves.
- Bobby Lucien (Neptune, NJ / Neptune), Leo Arndt (Dusseldorf, Germany/Lore Lorentz College), Lovro Kostanjsek (Domzale, Slovenia/Gimnazija Domzale), Xavi Csato (Stuart, FL/The Pine School [Stetson/UNC Greensboro]), Ricky Joasilus (Providenciales, Turks & Caicos [UTRGV]) and Kaelan Debbage (Queensland, Australia/Kawana Waters State H.S. [Spring Arbor Univ./Gardner Webb]) made their first starts in their debuts for the Broncs.
- Gio Polizzi (San Ramon, CA/Tilden Preparatory [Missouri State]), Ryan Vaubel (Middletown, NJ/Middletown North [West Virginia]), Drew Heil (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) and Landon Lackner (Perry Hall, MD/Loyola Blakefield [St. John's]) also came off the bench to make their first appearances for the Broncs.
- Collins, Max Schrader (Cherry Hill, NJ/Scholar Athletes Leadership Academy) and Theo Da Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil/University of Rio Grande) each played all 90 minutes.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Villanova took a 14-11 edge in shots, including a 7-3 margin in shots on goal.  
- The Wildcats took five corner kicks to the Broncs' four.
- Kostanjsek and Csato took two shots each to lead the Broncs.
- Both teams were shown one yellow card.  

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Monday, when they play host to Lehigh in their home opener. Kickoff from Ben Cohen Field is scheduled for 7 p.m. on BroncVision.