NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Rider University men's soccer team recorded a 2-2 tie against Iona on Wednesday afternoon in New York State. With the draw, the Broncs move to a record of 5-2-2 while the Gaels move to a record of 2-4-3 while both teams move to a Metro Conference record of 1-1-1.
The Gaels scored in the 10
th minute to open the scoring, beating the Broncs defense through heavy traffic to take an early 1-0 lead while holding off the Rider attack. The rest of the half resulted in no real chances for either team, with both the Broncs and the Gaels exchanging possession.
After returning from the halftime break,
Michael Holliday scored to level the match, with both
Drew Heil and
Emmanuel Dan-Adokiene being accredited with assists on the goal. Dan-Adokiene followed his assist with a goal of his own in the 52
nd minute, playing off of a long ball from
Chiemeka Azurunwa to take the lead in New Rochelle.
With 16 minutes left in the match, Iona leveled the game with a goal in the 74
th minute, with the Gaels maintaining the majority of the possession for the rest of the game. Iona nearly stole all three points in the 89
th minute as there was a shout for a handball in the box. After review, no penalty was given by the referee.
QUOTES & NOTES
"It's ebbs and flows. You're going to have moments where you have a lot of it [possession]. There is going to be moments when you are under it. I think our guys to start the second half, we tweaked our formation a little bit and we were able to find goals back to back, which I was really pleased with. This team, I have asked them to stay committed on set pieces because we seem to be getting the first header to the ball and the first action on set pieces. And so, we found a second phase set piece as they cleared it, and then scored off of that. And then obviously, Eman [Dan-Adokiene], his pace causes problems. And for him to come on and find his goal was fantastic. "
- Head Coach Chad Duernberger
- Rider was outshot on the day by Iona 28-11, besting the Broncs in shots on goal 9-5.
- Marius Helias completed seven saves in goal, making multiple saves late on to retain the point.
- Iona were given 11 chances from the corner kick to Rider's four chances from the corner kick.
- Yellow Cards were given out to both Holliday and Sawyer Koza on the day.
UP NEXT
The Broncs return to Lawrenceville on Saturday, October 3 at 1:00 p.m. against Niagara for Alumni Day at Ben Cohen Field.
