Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. ââ'¬" A goal at 98:58 lifted Rider to a 2-1 overtime victory over Villanova on a steamy afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex. The game was the regular season opener for both teams. Rider is now 1-0 overall while the Wildcats fall to 0-1.

Junior Lucas Hodges scored the Villanova goal on a second half penalty kick.

"There was a lot of good we saw out there," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin. "There were a lot of possessions where we created chances.

"We knew what Rider was going to try to do. In the first half we didn't do a good job of neutralizing some of that stuff. Our inexperience showed. We did a better job of neutralizing that in the second half but I thought once we got our goal, we played a little reckless. We weren't disciplined enough and it made it a wide open game."

The game was scoreless after 45 minutes of soccer with no side having gained a clear territorial advantage. The Broncs held a 7-6 edge in shots and that seemed to be an accurate reflection of the tight play.

In the 51st minute, some nifty passing between Miguel Polley and Hodges created the first goal of the day. Polley approached the top of the 18 yard box and fed a smart pass to Hodges making a run on the right side. The lone Bronc defender in position to slow Hodges from breaking in alone on goal, pulled him to the turf. The referee whistled a penalty kick.

Hodges stepped into the ball and buried it to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

The Broncs gathered themselves and wound up with a great opportunity of their own in the 59th minute. Jose Aguinaga sent a pass through the box that found Adrien Huss wide open on the right side. Huss dribbled in with only goalkeeper Will Steiner in his path and he found the net at 58:02 to deadlock matters at one.

Each team had their chances to get the critical second score.

In the 72nd minute, freshman Jack Gilliam set up senior John Jlopleh with a terrific ball but Jlopleh's blast was just wide of the goal. Another Hodges bid was stopped by a big foot save by Rider goalie Ryan Baird.

At the other end of the pitch, Steiner made a tremendous save off a bid from Elliott Otmani, just getting a hand on a blast to knock it over the net.

With the clock winding down in the first overtime, the Broncs were awarded a free kick on the left side outside the box. Christian Flath fired a low ball that found its way through the defense and into the corner of the net at 98:58 to give Rider the win.

"We had chances," Carlin noted. "We just have to keep working hard and working on our combinations.

"All experience is good experience with the number of young guys we have out there. But this hurts because it's a home game and you've got to take care of those. It was there for us and we didn't take advantage of it."

Villanova will be idle until next Friday when it visits Harvard at 4:30 p.m.