Rider drops pair of MAAC games to Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart 

By Joshua Yuhas and Emma Geremia-Hartigan

Rider dropped a pair of MAAC matchups this week, falling 19-6 at Quinnipiac University on April 8 in Hamden, Connecticut before returning home and coming up short against Sacred Heart University, 6-4, on April 11 at Ben Cohen Field. 

Scoring woes 

The Bobcats took early reins of the game on April 8 with four goals before graduate student attacker Kayleigh Colleary scored with five minutes left in the first quarter.

Quinnipiac returned to more of the same with the next four scores, until Colleary, once again, broke the pattern, but Rider still trailed, 8-2.

Following two more goals from the Bobcats, the Broncs rattled off back-to-back goals from sophomore midfielder Madi Eollo and Colleary on her third of the game.

Quinnipiac scored two more times before the end of the half, leaving Rider outshot 21-12 and trailing 12-4 at halftime.

The Broncs struggled to halt the Bobcats’ momentum with five straight Bobcat goals to open the second half, extending the deficit to 13.

Another Colleary score and a goal from sophomore defender Hannah Kozik and a pair of Quinnipiac goals closed out a rough game for the Broncs, falling 19-6.

Late defeat

Sacred Heart got on the board early to open play, scoring twice in the first quarter, including one on a player-up opportunity. 

Rider’s defense spent most of that opening stretch under pressure, especially with three green cards in the first quarter. However, Rider started to turn things around in the second. 

Freshman midfielder Madi Mooney got Rider on the board with 5:50 left in the half, finishing a pass from junior midfielder Hayley Henderson to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Then, with just over a minute remaining, graduate student draw specialist Marissa Ross scored unassisted to tie the game at 2-2 going into halftime.  

Junior attacker Maggie Hance reflected on the team’s offensive skill, saying, “Overall, this was a very low-scoring game due to great defense by both teams, and tying the game just after halftime allowed us to reflect on what was working and what wasn’t in our offense.”

Sacred Heart took the lead early in the third quarter, but Rider responded once again when Hance scored off a feed from Eollo with 4:10 remaining in the third to tie the game at 3.

After the play, Hance credited the team’s offensive skills, saying, “This goal resulted from the offense moving together as one cohesive unit. Madi [Eollo] did a great job keeping her vision up and drawing my defender to slide to her. This made my cut wide open, and her strong feed made my job very easy.”

With the game tied entering the fourth quarter, the pace picked up, as both teams looked to take control.

Sacred Heart broke the tie with 10:36 remaining and followed with two more goals over the next several minutes to extend the lead to 6-3.

Rider was called for multiple green cards and a yellow card throughout the game, which disrupted play at key moments. 

Mooney added her second goal of the game with 30 seconds remaining, finishing a play set up by Hance to make it 6-4, but Rider was unable to get any closer.

Mooney led Rider with two goals, while Hance had a goal and an assist. Ross also found the back of the net, and Henderson and Eollo each recorded assists. 

The loss dropped Rider to 1-15 overall and 0-7 in MAAC play. The Broncs will look for a win at Canisius University on April 18, where they play their last game of the season.