Rider men’s soccer beats Monmouth to win MAAC championship

The Rider University men’s soccer team upset top-seeded Monmouth 3-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament championship game Nov. 9, earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament.   The second seed in the 11-team Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, Rider beat #22 Monmouth at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to become the MAAC champions. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Rider head coachCharlie Inverso, who saw his Broncs begin the season 0-2 in the MAAC and finish 6-3-1 in conference play before going 3-0 in MAAC post-season play. “It has been such an up and down year. All I know is that it feels good. We’re in a good place right now.” Monmouth beat Rider nine straight times before the two teams tied 1-1 earlier this year. The last time Rider beat Monmouth was 1998. “That’s been a long time,” Inverso said. 1998 was also the last time Rider advanced to the NCAA Tournament. “I know a lot of the players from that team and it is nice to follow in their tradition,” Inverso said. “Maybe it is time for us to start a tradition of our own.” Rider enters the 2015 NCAA Tournament on a four-game winning streak and is 9-1-1 in its last 11 games. The NCAA selection show is Monday, Nov. 16. “We’re so happy right now they can send us to Mars,” Inverso said. For Rider (14-5-1) junior Matt Fryc (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial), a veteran of 45 games, scored his first career goal. “Fritzy wasn’t starting for us in the beginning of the year but has the last 11 games,” Inverso said. “He comes to work every day. His goal right before the half was huge.” Fryc scored on a header on an assist from junior Adrien Huss (Madrid, Spain) to give Rider a 1-0 lead with just 1:46 left in first half. It was Huss’ second assist of the postseason and sixth on the year. Sophomore Elliott Otmani (LaCiotat, France) took a pass from sophomore Jose Aguinaga (Madrid, Spain) and scored to give Rider a 2-0 lead 9:45 into the second half.  “Elliot’s goal was just a great soccer play,” Inverso said.  “Monmouth was coming on and we scored on a counter attack. Jose made a beautiful pass after drawing the defender.” The goal was the third for Otmani in the MAAC Tournament and his team-high eighth of the season. Otmani was named the Championship Tournament MVP.Also named to the All-Tournament team were Aguinaga, Huss and senor defender Sonimi Halliday (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek). The assist was the ninth for Aguinaga, which ranks in the top 20 in the nation. Aguinaga was a First Team All-MAAC selection this year. Monmouth (14-4-4) cut the lead to 3-2 in the final minute of play on a rebound. “Monmouth didn’t get to 14 wins by accident,” Inverso said. “They are very good and they know how to win. With 30 seconds left they were in our end. This one went down to the wire.” Monmouth cut the lead to 2-1 with 10:30 left in the second half, but the Broncs answered right back on a goal by junior Aaron Freeman (Piscataway, NJ) on an assist from First Team All-MAAC senior Florian Valot (Monaco, France) to go up 3-1. “Flo just got by the guy and Freeman was in the right place at the right time,” Inverso said. For Freeman, who had just entered the game, it was his second goal of the season. Rider senior goalkeeper Ryan Baird (Plainfield, NJ/St. Peter’s Prep) made eight saves. Baird has an 11-2 record in the Rider net with five shutouts. He has made 60 saves while allowing 17 goals in 14 games. Monmouth out-shot Rider 17-14, but Rider had 12 shots on goal compared to 10 shots on goal for Monmouth. The 14 wins this year is the most for Rider since finishing the 1997 season in the NCAA Tournament with a program-record 15 wins. This was Rider’s tenth MAAC Championship Tournament in the 19 years in the conference. Rider is now 10-7-1 in MAAC postseason play. Rider has won three of the four MAAC Title games it has played in, winning in 1997 and 1998 and losing in 2004. The Broncs and Hawks came into the game tied for ninth in the nation in goals scored with 39. “You usually see Championship games 1-0 or even 0-0 going to penalty kicks,” Inverso said. “This was kind of an unusual one.” Rider defeated the sixth seed, Siena, 3-2 in the semifinals Sunday after beating Quinnipiac 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Rider will now play in the NCAA Tournament.