NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men's soccer team lost to Rider in double overtime on a rainy Wednesday afternoon at Mazzella Field. With under 90 seconds to play, Matt Aruajo scored the golden goal to secure three crucial points for the Broncs.

MATCH SUMMARY

Rider had a plethora of chances in the opening 20 minutes of the match. The Broncs were whistled offside four times in that span, negating two shots. The Broncs, however, did try five shots before the Gaels' first; three of Rider's shots were near misses, one of which struck the crossbar.
 
The Broncs dominated control of the ball and pace of play in the opening 45 minutes, evidenced by their seven shots compared to Iona's one. Rider consistently put shots towards the net, but they were also consistently offside. By the end of the first half, the Broncs were called offside seven times.
 
Offensively, Iona struggled to connect on passes, and that trend continued into the early portion of the second half. The same 11 who started the match for the Maroon & Gold opened up the second half on the pitch. Nine minutes into the second half, Mauro Bravo's shot was deflected and led to the team's first corner; the Gaels could not muster a shot off of the set piece.
 
In the 59^th minute, Rider was awarded a penalty kick after Iona was called for a handball inside the box. After a few seconds of deliberation between the head referee and his assistant, they officially awarded the Broncs the PK. Emmanuel Kouma lined it up, tried the left side, but the attempt hit the crossbar and went out of bounds.
 
Minutes later, Lenworth Lopez found a wide-open Bravo in front of the net, whose shot went high over the crossbar. Iona finally began to find their groove as a team offensively, but they did not stumble upon any sort of luck. Eimantas Lotuzys and Esad Mackic both watched shots from in close strike woodwork as the Gaels tried to find the first goal of the match. 
 
It would be Rider however that struck first, when Aruajo curved a left-footed shot past Giuliano Santucci to give the visitors a lead in the 72^nd minute. The goal came after Santucci punched the initial cross towards net away, but Aruajo played it out of the air with his right foot, finishing the goal with his left after the touch.
 
About 10 minutes later, Iona was the beneficiary of a free kick from about 19 yards out. Rider's keeper, Pablo Gatinois, was whistled for an offense after crossing outside of the 18-yard box on a goal kick. Bravo touched first, setting up Mackic for a laser of a shot that Gatinois directed away to keep Iona off the board.
 
In the 86^th minute, Gatinois made two more stops on would-be Iona scores from Mackic and Ignacio Antequera-Sanchez. It wasn't until the 88^th minute when the Gaels would finally find the equalizer and level the match. Bravo found nylon on a free kick from the right side of the field about 24 yards out from goal, evening the score at 1-1.
 
Both sides played for overtime after the goal, not trying to push the issue with under two minutes to play. The Maroon & Gold had the best chances of the first overtime, but Gatinois held them in check. Mackic was again stoned off of a set piece on a shot that he grounded and Bravo watched a shot sail too high over the crossbar. 
 
The Gaels would also have the best look in the second overtime period, for the time being, when Lopez and Lotuzys nearly connected on a golden goal. Lopez's cross towards the middle of the box for the freshman was just a little too far out in front and the flick was saved by Gatinois.
 
As the second overtime period approached a minute remaining, Aaron Gabriel flew down the far sideline and skipped a shot past Santucci on the right side, giving the Broncs the overtime win at Mazzella Field.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Bravo's goal was his ninth of the season and was unassisted.
• From the 62^nd minute until the 100^th minute, Iona tried eight shots and limited the Broncs to just one.
• 14 of the Gaels' 15 shots came from the second half on. Iona limited Rider to just nine shots after allowing seven in the first 45 minutes of play.
• Mackic registered a match-high three shots on goal.
• Rider's starting lineup consisted of 11 upperclassmen; Iona started eight underclassmen
• Nine of Iona's starters played the full 109 minutes of the match. 
• The Gaels used just three subs, all freshmen: Ervin Dervisevic, Eddy Vargas and Robin Klaas. For Vargas, it was his first game-action this season.
• The loss marks the first time the Gaels have been topped at Mazzella Field since they lost to Rider in the First Round of the MAAC Championship last season.
• Since 2017, the only two MAAC teams to beat the Maroon & Gold in New Rochelle are Rider and Manhattan.

UP NEXT

The Gaels will host their final regular season game versus Marist on Saturday, November 2 at 1 PM. Iona will honor its three seniors (Juan Alcantara, Francesc Chulia and Malcolm Moreno) prior to the match.

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