Rider celebrates Senior Day, draws top Metro opponent to end season

By Joey Poto

On Oct. 31, Rider women’s soccer played their last match of the season, drawing 1-1 against Niagara University, as the seniors played the final game of their college careers.

Right there with the best

The game started off slow, as not a lot of action happened for the first five minutes of the game, but after this, the game would get busted open.

Niagara started the game with the first shot, and a minute later was awarded a penalty kick after a Rider foul in the box. 

Despite this chance to take an early lead, sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Moore stepped into the goal and made a crucial save to kill off the early momentum Niagara was building.

The Purple Eagles would get a few more shots off before the Broncs’ offense started to click, as junior forward Tess Ferrie would fire off four consecutive shots.

Tess would finally be rewarded on that fourth shot, when she found the back of the net to give Rider a 1-0 lead with 15 minutes left in the half. However, this would end up being the calm before the storm, as Niagara would gain possession and fire a shot to the back of the net, tying the game before halftime. 

After one more shot by Niagara, the first ended with both sides lockstepped at 1-1, and Head Coach Drayson Hounsome proud of how his team was playing against a top Metro Conference team.

“We have been right there with the top teams in the conference and we weren’t doing that at the start of the year, so it’s a credit to the work they have put in,” said Hounsome.

‘The girls really make the team’

When the second half kicked off, Rider immediately took control of the game with the first three shots of the half, one from each Ferrie sister.

Even after Niagara took its first shot of the half that hit the crossbar, Rider held the momentum as they recorded two more shots trying to take the lead.

However, it would be Moore on the other end who stepped up once again to stop two quality chances with a pair of saves.

Rider would respond with a shot on goal of their own, then on the other end, Moore recorded another save in the exchange.

For the next 10 minutes, the action would slow down quite a bit as both teams would make substitutions and have a player record a yellow card, but no shots were taken. 

Rider would break that trend with six minutes remaining as sophomore defender Ella Baumgardt took two shots, one of them saved by the Purple Eagles’ goalkeeper.

The final two minutes of this game gave both teams a chance to win, as Niagara took a shot on goal that was saved by Moore, her ninth of the day, before Tess gave Rider one last chance at a victory that was saved with just seconds left. 

The clock would strike zero for a 1-1 draw against a Metro opponent fighting for the top seed, as Rider finished their season 4-9-2 overall and 3-8-1 in the conference play.

After the game, senior forward Ava Ferrie described her experience playing at Rider with her sister as her collegiate career comes to a close. 

“The girls really make the team and I wouldn’t be anywhere without them,” Ava said while getting emotional. “The girls just really pushed me and I have to thank Coach Drayson for believing in me, the girls for believing in me … it’s the last time … with my sister so just really leaving everything out on the field.”

Along with Ava, senior defender Bethie Morgan, senior forward Taylor Mays, senior midfielder Isis Ovares, senior defender Courtney Carter and senior forward Noa Menzing have left Ben Cohen Field one final time.

As the season concludes, Hounsome and his team look toward next season to see where they can improve to hopefully advance beyond this point next year.