Rider University Crowned 2015 MAAC Men's Soccer Champions
MAAC Sports
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL – The 2015 MAAC Men’s Soccer Champions are the Rider University Broncs. The Broncs defeated top seeded Monmouth University by a score of 3-2 at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Rider wins its third ever MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship. Rider last played in the championship game in 2004 and the last time the Broncs won the championship was back in 1998 when they won it for the second straight year. They were also MAAC Men’s Soccer Champions in 1997.
The first goal of the game was scored by Rider’s Matt Fryc on a header off a free kick as time was winding down in the first half. In the second half, Elliot Otmani pushed the Broncs lead to 2-0 when teammate Joe Aguinaga feed Otmani a pass on the right side and he was able to put it in the back of the net from 10 yards out. Otmani tallied three goals in during the championship weekend to earn the Most Valuable Player Award.
Monmouth scored at the 79:32 mark in the second half on a goal by Zachary Pereira on assists from Dan Pizzimenti and David Acuna Camacho. Rider responded right away when Aaron Freeman scored on an assist by Florian Valot at the 79:49 mark to make the score 3-1 Rider. The Hawks scored late with 55 seconds remaining when Danny Figarella scored off an assist from Andrew Gee to bring Monmouth with one. The Broncs were able to hold onto its one goal lead as time expired.
The last time the number two seeded team defeated the number one team during the championship final was in 2013 when No.2 Quinnipiac defeated No.1 Monmouth in penalty kicks 4-3.
Rider earns an automatic bid in the men’s soccer NCAA Tournament. The NCAA men's soccer selection show is on Monday, November 16 at 1 p.m. and is available to watch on NCAA.com
2015 MAAC MEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
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MVP – Elliot Otmani
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Rider
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Jose Aguinaga
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Rider
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Adrien Huss
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Rider
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Sonimi Halliday
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Rider
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John Egan
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Monmouth
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Dave Nigro
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Monmouth
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Zachary Pereira
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Monmouth
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Jon-Luke Ferrandino
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Iona
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Marcos Nunez
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Iona
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Peter Gadze
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Siena
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Matt Needham
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Siena
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