Thursday’s men’s soccer playoff slate featured two intriguing MAAC Conference semi-final matches: fifth-seeded Marist facing top-seeded Iona on the road and second-seeded Rider hosting third-seeded Siena.
Iona’s two first-half goals were enough to carry the Gaels past Marist in a 3-1 win and into the championship match, good for their third consecutive appearance.
Iona now takes on the winner of the other semi-final match, where two-seeded Rider slipped past three-seeded Siena in a 1-0 win. Iona and Rider will square off in a rematch of last year’s MAAC final, during which the Broncs scored a go-ahead goal in the 83rd minute to win the conference and advance to the NCAA tournament.
Iona’s 2024 quarter-final win was a dominant 3-0 showing over Mount St.Mary’s. Three different Gaels got on the scoresheet in a home victory where Iona outshot the Mountaineers 15-11 and led on corners 13-3. Rider’s quarterfinal, a 1-0 home win in overtime over the seventh-seed Sacred Heart Pioneers, marked the Bronc’s sixth shutout during their current unbeaten run.
Coming into Iona’s semifinal match, Marist looked to deny the Gaels their third straight championship appearance. The Red Foxes entered this fixture a little bit depleted after graduate student goalkeeper Jamie Lowell picked up an injury in Marist’s previous game, a 2-1 win at Quinnipiac. Freshman defender Gijs Verhuel was also unavailable for the match after getting dealt a red card in the quarterfinal.
Iona started extremely strong and ended up breaking through in the first 10 minutes after a pass from senior midfielder Thiago Cagna slipped in sophomore midfielder Francesco Borla. Borla beat Idrizi to give the Gaels a deserved early 1-0 lead.
A free-kick taken by senior defender Tim Timchenko took a deflection off the wall and left freshman forward Bautista Rossi all alone in front of the net. Rossi scored, doubling the Gaels’ lead and extending his goal streak to four games.
After some second-half back and forth, it was Iona who found the net next when freshman midfielder Alvaro Maneiro located senior midfielder Jose Silva all alone at the back post. Silva saw an empty net in front of him and put the ball there to extend the Gaels’ lead.
Marist senior forward Richard Morel extended his scoring streak to three games after the sphere pinballed around the box, allowing Morel to get his eighth of the year and cutting the lead down to two with 22 minutes left to play. The Morel goal gave his team some life, but in the end, it just wasn’t meant to be for the Red Foxes as their season ended with a 3-1 loss. With such a young squad, they’ll likely be back next year.
Elsewhere, three-seeded Siena traveled down to New Jersey to take on the second-seeded Rider Broncs in the second semi-final of the day.
The Saints entered the match on a three-game unbeaten streak, which included a regular season-ending win over Marist, a 2-2 draw at home to Mount St. Mary’s and a 2-1 home victory in the quarterfinals over Manhattan. Despite being outshot, having fewer corners and tallying more fouls than the Jaspers, Siena’s quarterfinals-winning goal came in the 84th minute off the foot of their leading scorer, sophomore forward Mario Navarro Perez.
Rider also looked to stay hot, as their unbeaten streak entering play was much longer. The Broncs came into this semi-final game unbeaten in eight straight with only one draw, a 2-2 draw at home against the Red Foxes.
After a scoreless first half against a Siena defense that only conceded one goal against average in 2024, Rider’s standout junior midfielder Momo Diop took over. Diop, who scored a clutch goal in last year’s MAAC final and made nine more this season, converted a 55th-minute free kick to put the Broncs in front. The ball was placed to the right of the “D” above the box, and Diop went around the wall and snuck his shot in the bottom right of the net, putting Rider on the cusp of making the Final.
After that goal, both offenses began to come alive, although no one else scored. Siena almost got one to go with just under seven minutes left to play after a searching pass missed multiple Saints players and went out for a goal kick, but no other opportunities arose.
Diop’s goal proved to be enough for the Broncs, as Rider booked a place in the final with the home shutout victory.
Rider will travel to Iona for the final on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. in a top-seeded matchup.
Rider lost the regular season matchup between the two top MAAC sides 1-0 on the road. Junior midfielder Sergio Gonzalez Fernandez got the lone goal in that match and is one to certainly watch for the final.
The two sides face each other in the MAAC championship for the second consecutive year. When the two met at Iona last year, it was Rider who prevailed. Diop scored in the 35th minute, which carried the Broncs into halftime with a lead. It was Cagna who found the equalizer for the Gaels, leaving the match tied with over 40 minutes to play.
In a match with 26 shots, 26 fouls, 12 corners and five offsides calls, the biggest moment came in the 83rd minute. Senior forward Babacar Diene scored his thirteenth goal of the year, putting Rider ahead 2-1.
The match ended that way, and the MAAC title went to the Broncs. In the NCAA tournament, the Broncs were dispatched by a strong University of Vermont team.
Iona, once again hosting the Final this year, will look to avenge last season’s loss by capitalizing on the home-field advantage that has been so good for them this year.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Photo by Kira Crutcher
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