Broncs escape Bronx with victory

By Austin Ferguson

After the Broncs’ home debut was cancelled against Central Connecticut State (CCSU), Rider grinded out a win at Fordham, 2-0.

The Broncs were contacted prior to what would have been their first home game of the year by CCSU, stating that they would not be able to field a team for their upcoming match, cancelling the game.

The Rider News reached out to CCSU for comment on the cancellation, but CCSU did not respond back for comment in time for publication The Broncs’ match against CCSU will not be rescheduled this season.

Following the cancellation, Rider traveled to the Bronx for a nonconference matchup against Fordham on Sept. 7.

The action picked up in the 28th minute, when redshirt junior forward Pablo DeCastro cashed in on a redshirt junior midfielder Mathis Catanzaro assist to give the Broncs a 1-0 lead, their first of the season.

DeCastro felt the initial goal set the tone of the match, especially with Fordham’s hard play against them.

“It was an important goal,” DeCastro said. “They were pressing a lot and making a lot of changes. It gave us a lot of confidence.”

Catanzaro set the table again in the 65th minute, and served up the pass for a senior forward Clement Bourret score, which put Rider up, 2-0. The Broncs did not look back and cemented the 2-0 victory by the final whistle.

Outside of Rider’s scoring effort, the Broncs’ goalkeeping had a strong showing to contribute to the win. Junior goalkeeper Pablo Gatinois led the Broncs’ defensive dominance and accounted for seven saves on the way to his first shutout of the campaign.

Both Rider and Fordham played a physical game and drew seven bookings which included a red card to redshirt senior back Sylvain Coco.

Head Coach Charlie Inverso commented that the pace of the game was disrupted by the physical play, saying there “were a lot of fouls, it made it hard for us to get into a flow.”

Inverso also saw the Broncs’ next matchup against Princeton as a great opportunity for the team to find the right physicality and energy to bring to the field.

“We play with a lot of passion and we have the perfect game to follow up with and find out how we do that,” said Inverso.

Despite the flow of the game, Inverso was proud of the team’s efforts against a formidable opponent on the road.

“Up until the end, I was happy with how we handled the game,” Inverso said. “[Fordham] is a very good program. They went to the final eight [of the NCAA tournament] a few years ago. It’s a hard place to play. Going up to the Bronx and dealing with everything you have to deal with up there on the road, it was a good win.”

Although the Broncs’ returned to New Jersey with their first win of the season, DeCastro was not taking their upcoming match with Princeton lightly.

“It’s going to be a tough game, they have a really good team,” DeCastro said. “Their level of play is so high. It’s a very important game for us to get confident for [Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference] play and to look forward to other games.”

Rider travels to take on Princeton on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m., followed by the Broncs’ home opener on Sept. 14 as they take on La Salle at Ben Cohen Field at 7 p.m.