Box score
NEWARK, NJ—Visiting Rider scored early in each half en route to 2-0 women's soccer win over NJIT Friday night in the Highlanders' 2011 home opener on Lubetkin Field at J. Malcolm Simon Stadium.
The Broncs (2-1-1) scored in the fifth minute of the match, with the first tally coming on a penalty kick at 4:21 off the boot of junior Abi Cottam.
The score remained 1-0 until the fourth minute of the second half, when Rider sophomore Bridgette Bartkowski made a strong move from the top of the box and scored, unassisted, on a hard shot under the crossbar from 15 yards away at 48:48.
Rider, which has allowed just one goal in four starts this season, extended its scoreless defensive streak to 290 minutes with the clean sheet Friday night against NJIT. The Broncs employed two goalkeepers, with the change taking place at halftime, as it has in all four of their matches. Freshman Danielle Singson started and was not required to make a save in the opening 45 minutes. Junior Jenn Nichols came on at the break and maintained the scoreless run with two saves in her 45 minutes.
Anna Kornmuller went the distance in goal for NJIT (0-3), making five saves.
The total shots favored Rider, 18-6, including a solid 7-2 margin in shots on goal. The corner kicks were even, at five apiece.
Rider, which lost its season opener, 1-0 on a goal in the first overtime against Mount St. Mary's, hasn't allowed a goal since, tying Fairleigh Dickinson, 0-0, and beating Bryant, 3-0, before facing the Highlanders.
The opening goal was a penalty kick awarded on a clear foul against a Rider player carrying the ball a few yards in and parallel to the goal line from the left corner. Cottam, a second-team all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference pick as a sophomore in 2010, lined up the pk and took a hard shot high and to the upper right corner. NJIT's Kornmuller guessed correctly and got her hands on the ball, but not enough to keep it out of the net.
Rider, which showed a solid attack with regularity throughout the match, actually got its second goal on a strong solo effort. Bartkowski, coming up the middle, received a pass and carried into the 18-yard area, beating one defender for an opening a few yards in and she fired high but on target over Kormuller's outstretched arms and under the crossbar in the 49th minute.
NJIT's shots total did not truly reflect the level of its effort on offense, particularly in the second half, when the Highlanders made surges, but were unable to make the extra pass needed to get off a shot.
“I thought we played more consistent soccer for longer stretches tonight than we had in the previous games,” said first-year NJIT head coach Sergio Gonzalez. “That's something we've been talking about and working on. Against Iona (a 3-1 loss in the opening game) we played about 15 good minutes. At Wagner (a 2-1 loss) it was the 45 minutes on the second half. Tonight, I thought the second half of the first half and outside of the first five minutes of the second half, we did some good things.
“It was a good team effort and we're learning some lessons that are going to pay off for us later on. We've got to string together a strong 90 minutes and once we do that, we'll be fine.”
NJIT, which played its first two games on the road before playing Rider in the first home game under the leadership of Gonzalez, will hit the road again for its next two contests.
Both away matches will be in the state of New Jersey, however. The Highlanders will visit one of their strongest opponents when they travel to West Long Branch for a 6 pm Labor Day contest at Monmouth, which has 65 combined wins over the last five seasons.
After that, the Highlanders will play Fairleigh Dickinson in Teaneck on September 9 at 7 pm.
