LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Freshman Danny Figarella (Wappingers Falls, NY/John Jay) scored his second goal of the season as the Monmouth University Men’s Soccer team earned a point on the road with a 1-1 tie at hOURglass rival Rider Wednesday night on Ben Cohen Field. With the tie, the Hawks (7-3-2, 3-0-1 MAAC) extend their unbeaten streak to nine games (7-0-2). The Broncs are now 6-4-1 (1-2-1 MAAC).  

After a first half that didn’t present many scoring chances for either team, the action picked up in the second half. The Hawks broke through when Derek Luke (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) sent a cross from the midfield, left-to-right to find Colin Stripling (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) at the top, right corner of the 18-yard box. With space in front of him, Stripling sent a shot at Rider goalkeeper David Pastuna that the Broncs’ keeper was able to save, but not secure. Figarella streaked in to poke it into the net for the go-ahead goal.

Just over nine minutes later, the Broncs would find the equalizer. Adrien Huss passed ahead into the box to find the head of Jose Aguinaga to beat Monmouth goalkeeper Eric Klenofsky (Lincoln Park, NJ/DePaul Catholic).

Monmouth’s next solid chance came in the 74th minute, when Jalil Blalock (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) ripped a shot from atop the 18-yard box that Pastuna could only knock over the crossbar for a Hawks corner kick. After the first corner was knocked out of bounds by the Broncs, Zachary Pereira (Rahway, NJ/St. Benedict’s) got on the end of Luke’s second attempt, but his header went wide to the right.

Rider made some noise on the other end in the 77th and 78th minutes, with Elliott Otmani testing Klenofsky and Huss sending a shot high. Zach Bond also sent a shot just wide of the right post in the 85th minute.

Each team got one shot off in the first overtime. Dan Pizzimenti’s (Manalapan, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) shot went wide in the 96th minute, while Klenofsky was there to save Florian Valot’s attempt in the 99th minute. Monmouth created a pair of dangerous crosses in the early going of the second overtime and Stripling sent a shot wide to end the 101st minute.   

For the match, Rider edged Monmouth in shots (12-11) and shots on goal (4-3), while the Hawks took a 4-3 advantage on corner kicks. Klenofsky made three saves, while Pastuna stopped two shots.

The Hawks return to action Saturday, when they play host to longtime conference foe Quinnipiac. Kickoff from Hesse Field on The Great Lawn is slated for 7 p.m.  
 

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