LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Kourtney Cunningham (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and Ashlyn Johnson (Santa Clarita, CA/Valencia) scored goals as the Rider University women’s soccer team came back to defeat Quinnipiac, 2-1, Wednesday night on Ben Cohen Field. With the win, the Broncs (8-5-2, 4-3-1 MAAC) pass the Bobcats (6-7-2, 3-3-2 MAAC) in the MAAC standings with two games remaining.

Kelsey Goldring put the Bobcats on top, 1-0, in the 22^nd minute, finishing at the left post. Madison Borowiec played Al Pelletier into the right corner before Pelletier sent a long cross to the far post, finding Goldring for the score.

Just over six minutes later, Cunningham had the answer, scoring in front off a perfect Sam Picinich (North Bellmore, NY/Mepham) cross from the right corner. After the game headed to halftime tied at 1-1, the Broncs got the game-winning goal in the 58^th minute off a Valeria Pascuet (Bunuel, Navarra, Spain/San Fermin Ikastola) corner kick. Niamh Cashin (Nottingham, England/All Saints Academy) headed Pascuet’s service down from the top of the 18-yard box, finding Johnson posted up in front. Johnson secured the ball, turned and shot from close range, beating Quinnipiac goalkeeper Olivia Myszewski for the game-winning goal.

Quotes and Notes

“Real good win. All the small little things – they beat us in the playoffs last year – those things just stay with the players. That little bit of motivation and being neck and neck in the standings. They’re a good team, well coached. They play well, battle really hard and have some really good players. It’s always good to get a victory over Quinnipiac. I thought we played well. In periods, I thought we played really, really well.”

“We got through with players being away and having injuries and we had that spell where we were lacking in depth. It only takes a couple of players in certain positions and suddenly that depth is gone. Right now, we’re kind of almost there. We’ve still got a few people with bags of ice on their legs. We’re definitely in a better place now than we were two of three weeks ago. The key is to have everyone fit and healthy hopefully going into the playoffs, which hopefully we can secure next game.”  - Rider Head Coach Drayson Hounsome 

“It’s definitely really exciting. I wouldn’t have wanted to score any other way. It was a team effort getting the goal, so it was exciting.” – Sophomore Ashlyn Johnson
 

- Rider now owns a 4-2-1 edge in the all-time series with Quinnipiac, which began in 2013 when the Bobcats joined the MAAC. Quinnipiac defeated the Broncs in the MAAC Quarterfinals last season after the two teams tied in the regular season. Rider is 3-0-0 against the Bobcats on Ben Cohen Field.
- Rider is now 4-4-2 when the opponent scores first.
- With two games left on the league slate, Rider finds itself in fifth place in the MAAC with 13 points, two ahead of Quinnipiac and five ahead of its Manhattan and Fairfield. A win in either of its last two games against Canisius and Saint Peter’s would secure a berth in the six-team MAAC Tournament field. Monmouth has clinched the top seed, while the Broncs could still finish as high as second. The top two seeds receive byes, while the third and fourth seeds would host quarterfinal games against the sixth and fifth seeds, respectively.   

Broncs By The Numbers
- Cunningham’s 20^th career goal moved her past former teammates Ellie Smith and Michelle Iacono (19 goals) and into a tie with current Rider assistant coach Tara Ballay for sixth. She also has 54 career points, good for eighth in program history, one behind Smith and two behind Iacono for seventh and sixth, respectively. She's just the seventh Bronc in program history to score 20 goals and the eighth to compile 50 points.
- Pascuet’s assist gives her a team-leading five on the season. She’s now increased her assist total in each of her three years with three as a freshman, four last season and now five in her junior season.
- Picinich now has four assists and eight points on the year, both single-season career highs.
- Cashin’s assist was the first of her collegiate career. She now has three points on the year.
- Sophomore goalkeeper Carmen Carbonell (Valencia, Spain/Guadalaviar School) made three saves to earn the win.
- Rider outshot Quinnipiac, 17-8, for the game and 8-4 in shots on goal.
- The Broncs took five corner kicks to the Bobcats’ four.
 

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