POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Elliott Otmani (La Ciotat, France/Bonaparte) contributed a goal and an assist as the Rider University men’s soccer team defeated Marist, 2-0, on the road Saturday night. With the win, the Broncs’ second straight, Rider improves to 3-5-1 (2-0-0 MAAC), while the Red Foxes slip to 2-3-2 (1-1-0 MAAC).

The Broncs opened the scoring in the 37^th minute, when Otmani sent a free kick into the box, hitting Sylvain Coco (Nimes, France/University of Montpellier) in stride. Coco took the ball across the mouth of goal before finishing inside the right post.

Rider extended to a 2-0 lead in the 52^nd minute, when Otmani’s free kick found Emmanuel Kouma (Paris, France/University of Paris) in the box. Kouma sent a pass over his head back outside the box to Otmani, who hit it on one touch inside the right post for the score.

Just 26 seconds later, the Red Foxes were awarded a penalty kick, which was taken by 2017 MAAC Player and Rookie of the Year Allen Gavilanes. But Rider goalkeeper Pablo Gatinois (Madrid, Spain/Lycee Francais de Madrid) had him read and caught Gavilanes’ attempt out of mid-air on a dive to his right to preserve the shutout.

Quotes and Notes

“It was a great road win. They’re a good team. I think they were 52 in the RPI, but they were pressing us in the beginning of the game. We kind of got the goal against the run of play. It was a pretty special moment for Coco. His grandmother passed away this morning. So it was great to see him pull out a goal for us.”

“Elliott’s goal to put us up 2-0 was vintage Elliott – a great shot. They got a penalty kick right after that, but Gato got the save. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a keeper catch the ball on a penalty kick. He was off-the-charts good tonight with four huge saves. It was a good win. A lot of guys gave us quality minutes. Good team win.” – Rider Head Coach Charlie Inverso

- Rider extended its lead in the all-time series with the Red Foxes to 16-10-2.
- The Broncs have gone unbeaten through two games of MAAC play in each of the last three years, including 2-0 starts each of the last two seasons.
- After scoring just twice through the season’s first seven games, Rider has five goals in the last two games.
- The goal was Coco’s first of the year and fourth of his career following a three-goal 2017.
- Kouma’s assist represented the first point of his collegiate career.
- Marist played the final 4:32 down a man following a red card to Gavilanes.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Gatinois made a season-high seven saves for his second shutout of the year.
- The goal and assist were both Otmani’s third of the year, both team highs. For his career, he now has 26 goals, 15 assists and 67 points.
- Sergio Aguinaga (Madrid, Spain/Antonio Dominguez Ortiz) and Mathis Catanzaro (Montpellier, France/MHSC) each took three shots to lead the Broncs.
- Both teams took 13 shots for the game, with the Red Foxes taking a 7-6 edge in shots on goal.
- Rider took a 7-4 edge in corner kicks.   

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