Rider suffers heartbreaking last-minute defeat

By Joey Poto

After a hard-fought battle, Rider women’s soccer suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Canisius University on a late goal.

Controlling the half

Starting off as a slower game for action, Rider’s first advance into the offensive zone was offsides.

Senior forward Ava Ferrie took the opening shot of the match, and a few minutes later, junior forward Annie Small’s shot missed high.

With three fouls from the Broncs and one from the Golden Griffins, the pace of play settled back down until a newfound Rider  attack in the 30th minute.

Freshman forward Cali Friedel took the first shot, then junior forward Tess Ferrie launched the second at the bottom left corner, but it was saved by the Golden Griffins’ goalkeeper.

A counterattack immediately initiated where the Broncs survived a pair of shots, one of which was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Moore.

In another quick flip of the field, Rider turned back into the offensive zone with a corner.

That corner led to a set of chances for senior back Courtney Carter, each of them being stopped by the Golden Griffins’ defense.

Following that point, the Broncs would not produce another shot for the remainder of the half.

After another trio of fouls from Rider and one from Canisius, the Golden Griffins closed out the first half with a corner kick opportunity.

The first half of the game was all Rider, winning the shot battle 8-4.

Through the first 45 minutes, Rider looked like the better team. 

The main killer was fouls, as Rider commited eight fouls to the Golden Griffins’ four.

The Broncs committed double the amount of fouls that Canisius did, slowing the pace that they could operate with in the game.

Heartbreak strikes

In the second half, while the fouling calmed down for Rider, it actually increased on Canisius’ side, but the Broncs were not able to generate as much offense. 

In the opening minute of the second half, Tess found a chance at the net, which was saved by the Golden Griffins’ goalkeeper.

A pair of corner kicks followed after, but the Broncs were unable to break through in their rush at the Canisius net.

Three fouls and a shot for the Golden Griffins and a pair of corner kicks for each side preceded a cold stretch of offensive chances.

That was until a 72nd-minute Rider corner and an 82nd-minute Canisius shot.

Friedel took a shot just a few minutes later before Canisius took control of the momentum in the final minutes of the game..

After a save from Moore, the Golden Griffins broke through at the flip into the final minute for a 1-0 lead of the match for Canisius.

The late score was devastating but the Broncs would create one final chance.

Junior midfielder Ava DeGeorge produced a shot just after, but did not find the net, sealing a 1-0 loss on a late goal conceded.

Shot totals were fairly even throuhgout the match with the Golden Griffins holding the advantage 11-9.

Both sides made three saves across the 90 minutes of action.

The Broncs produced four corner kicks on the day to the Golden Griffins two, however, they were outshot 7-3 in the second half and eventually surrendered to the pressure.

Across the match there were 25 fouls between the two sides.

The Broncs ended with 13 fouls and the Golden Griffins had 12 fouls.

Tess looked at the match on how the team can improve moving forward and where the intensity begins for the Broncs. 

“I think we can take what we did well in this game and bring it into practice,” said Tess. “Our practices are always intense … when it’s time for our next game, we’ll already be used to that level of competition and effort.”

While dropping the first two Metro matchups of the season, Tess put into perspective the mindset early to get back on track.

“It is disappointing not to get any points as we definitely deserved more from the game based on how the team played,” Head Coach Drayson Hounsome told Rider Athletics.

The Broncs return to Ben Cohen Field to face Mount St. Mary’s University on Sept. 23, which will be streamed on ESPN+. The Broncs will then return to the road against St. Peter’s University on Sept. 26.