LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University men's soccer eam defeated the visiting Howard Bison by a score of 2-0 on Friday night. With the win, the Broncs move to a record of 2-0-0 while Howard falls to a record of 0-3-0.
Rider came out of the gates to start the match off hot, pressing Howard deep into their own defensive zone with their backs at goal within the first five minutes of play.
Drew Heil came close to the game's first score on a breakaway in the 15
th minute, sending the shot wide of the goal in the end for the first real Bronc attempt.
The deadlock was broken in the 23
rd minute as
Chiemeka Azurunwa hit a wonder-strike from outside of the box after spinning a pair of Bison defenders to go up 1-0.
Howard had an opportunity in the 36
th on a one on one through the back line, but a timely tackle from
Gavin Faracchio dispelled the attack. From then on, Rider controlled the half as attempts at goal came in from Faracchio, Heil,
Daniel Grider, and
Patryk Rojek, rounding out a dominant first half.
Rojek had the clearest opportunity at the goal mouth to start the second only for Howard to clear the ball off of the line to deny the Broncs from another score. Howard had another clear-cut opportunity at goal through the Broncs backline, with
Michael Holliday coming to collect with another timely tackle in the box.
Sawyer Koza had the next best opportunity at goal, heading the ball off a rebound down into the ground and straight to the keeper. The Broncs next got onto the scoresheet in the 74
th minute as carter Schmitz put a long ball into the box from the back, finding the head of
Emmanuel Dan-Adokiene who dispatched the ball over the keeper's reach to make it 2-0 on the night. Dan-Adokiene was accredited with his second goal on the season and Schmitz was given his first assist on the year.
The Bison had a chance to break the clean sheet in the 85
th minute from far out in the box, with
Marius Helias being called into make an excellent save at the near post to maintain the shutout, ending the last real chance at goal for either team in the match.
QUOTES & NOTES
"I think the guys worked hard, obviously you want to see more goals when you put that many shots up, but that's the sport we chose to play and at the end of the day, we got two wins, two shutouts and multi goals tonight. You know his goal [Azurunwa] was one of the best I've seen on this field in a long time. So, I am excited for the group to just keep growing and try to find another result on Monday after we put in a hard shift tonight."
– Head Coach Chad Duernberger.
"I think we are doing well. I think in training we work a lot on different combinations to link up with each other and, as we are progressing through games, I think we have only been together for a month now, but we are continuing to gel and get better with each other and the combinations and everything, so its good. I enjoy playing with the other guys on the front line and I think we can continue to perform."
– Chiemeka Azurunwa on the performance of the Broncs forwards.
- The broncs outshot the visitors by a whopping margin of 26-6 on Friday night, with the Broncs also beating the Bison in shots on target 7-3.
- Helias completed three saves during the match, making one in the first and two in the second.
- The Broncs were awarded with seven corners in the game to the Bison's four corners, with Rider notching four attempts in the first half alone.
- Rider committed 16 fouls in the game to Howard's 10 fouls.
- Three yellow cards were issued to players in the match: two to the Bison and one to Rider's Heil.
- Rider was out possessed in the game by Howard 52%-48%, with Rider controlling 40% of possession in their final third around the opposition's goal.
- Jacobo Cruz and made his debut for the Broncs against the Bison on Friday night.
- Anthony Becker made his collegiate debut against Howard.
UP NEXT
The Broncs have a quick turnaround, hitting the road again on Monday, August 31, traveling to Teaneck, New Jersey to face off against FDU at 6:00 p.m.
