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Kaelan Debbage Villanova
Jack Verdeur
2
Winner Lehigh LEH (1-0-1, 0-0-0)
1
Rider RID (0-2-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Lehigh LEH
(1-0-1, 0-0-0)
2
Final
1
Rider RID
(0-2-0, 0-0-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Lehigh LEH 1 1 2
Rider RID 1 0 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Men's Soccer Edged By Lehigh, 2-1

Broncs outshoot Mountain Hawks, 16-6, hit crossbar three times

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University men's soccer team outshot Lehigh, 16-6, but fell to the Mountain Hawks, 2-1, in the Broncs' home opener on Monday night at Ben Cohen Field. With the loss the Broncs fall to 0-2-0 on the season, while the Mountain Hawks improve to 1-0-1.

The Mountain Hawks took the early lead just 2:09 into regulation off a corner kick. Bora Turker headed in the set piece from Giacomo Zizza. 25 minutes later, Lovro Kostanjsek (Domzale, Slovenia/Gimnazija Domzale) took his defender one-on-one into the box before crossing to Ezra Punselie (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands/Zaanlands Lyceum). Punselie's shot was deflected across the mouth of goal, but Gio Polizzi (San Ramon, CA/Tilden Preparatory [Missouri State]) was there to knock in the equalizer at the 27-minute mark. The game remained tied at 1-1 for the remainder of the half.

The Broncs dominated possession for much of the second half and two of three shots off the crossbar for Rider came in the final period. But shortly after Ryan Vaubel's (Middletown, NJ/Middletown North [West Virginia]) second attempt off the woodwork for the game came in the 83rd minute, a hard deflection in the midfield by Lehigh defender Jax Adkins dispossessed the Broncs and led Yusef Gueye into the 18-yard box with space. Gueye dribbled to the left post and crossed in front to the penalty spot, where Luciano Larrea finished inside the right post for the game winner.   

Quotes & Notes
"We've hit the bar six times in two games, which is kind of unheard of. Hopefully we'll get it going. I really like the performance. We always evaluate the performance and the result. You obviously need the result, which is a win, but you also look at how you played. Night and day from game one to game two. I thought we put on a good performance today. Just unlucky."

"I was telling the guys, 'we've all been on both sides of it where you've had a great game and lost or you didn't play well and somehow found a way to get a win.' So, just a little unfortunate today. But I really liked the way the group played. For game two, with so many new faces, this group is going to be just fine." – Rider Head Coach Chad Duernberger

- The Broncs and Mountain Hawks renewed their series, which dates back to 1969. Lehigh now holds a 20-15-4 lead in the all-time series, including nine-straight wins. The last four results have been one-goal decisions. The Broncs' last win over Lehigh came in 1995.
- Freshman Yoav Arikha (Tel Aviv, Israel/Tichonet) started in goal for the Broncs. He made two saves in his Rider debut.
- Polizzi made his first start as a Bronc after appearing off the bench in the season opener.  
- Arikha, Max Schrader (Cherry Hill, NJ/Scholar Athletes Leadership Academy), Leo Arndt (Dusseldorf, Germany/Lore Lorentz College), Kostanjsek, Theo Da Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil/University of Rio Grande), Ricky Joasilus (Providenciales, Turks & Caicos [UTRGV]) and Kaelan Debbage (Queensland, Australia/Kawana Waters State H.S. [Spring Arbor Univ./Gardner Webb]) each played all 90 minutes.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Polizzi scored his first collegiate goal.
- Punselie's assist was his first of the year and second as a Bronc.
- Rider outshot Lehigh, 16-6, including a 7-4 margin in shots on goal to go along with three off the crossbar.
- The Broncs took five corner kicks to the Mountain Hawks' four.
- Polizzi took a team-high three shots, while both of Punselie's attempts were on target. Kostanjsek, Da Silva and Vaubel also took two shots apiece.  
- Lehigh was shown two yellow cards, while the Broncs were cautioned once.   

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Friday, when they play host to La Salle at 7 p.m. on Ben Cohen Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.  
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