Inverso’s Broncs aiming for encore to MAAC championship
As the Rider men’s soccer team prepares for its opener against at Villanova Friday, it does so as defending MAAC champion.
Whether the players think so or not.
“It really doesn’t feel like we’re defending champs,” said Charlie Inverso, entering his sixth year as head coach. “It’s kind of the way we are. Maybe it’s just the chemistry of our team. I think after the first semester last year everybody just kind of put it away and I think they’re still pretty driven to have a successful season. That’s a good thing.
“There are no remnants of being champions in our lockerroom. We don’t have a banner or trophy or anything in there. People aren’t happy after a bad practice or scrimmage, so that kind of reflects that we’re a hungry group. It’s a good reflection of our group’s mentality.”
The Broncs are coming off a 14-6-1 season in which they went 6-3-1 in the MAAC and defeated top-seeded Monmouth in the conference final before losing to Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
An attack-minded team is led by junior midfielder Jose Aguinaga, Rider’s leading scorer last year with seven goals and nine assists. Three-time All-MAAC first-team pick Christian Flath orchestrates the midfield along with senior Adrien Huss. Up front will be MAAC Tournament MVP Elliott Otmani and senior striker Zach Bond.
Senior center back Matt Fryc anchors the defense. Inverso noted, “He’s kind of a typical kid we get. They weren’t highly recruited out of high school, they come in and work, and develop into good players.”
Senior Ryan Baird, who led the conference in saves per game (4.47) returns in goal, with Robbinsville’s Dave Pastuna the back-up.
“Right now Baird’s got the edge to come back and start, but Pastuna has been tremendous in his career for us,” Inverso said. “He’s been great in helping turn the program around, he was the goalkeeper that got us started on our turnaround. So we feel we have two reliable guys back there.”
A freshman trio from France look to be starters, including center-back Arthur Herpeck, left back Emanuel Kouma and wing Clement Bourret.
Inverso also feels senior Dean Stephan, a Notre Dame grad, could see ample time in the back.
“He arguably could be the most improved player I’ve ever coached,” Inverso said. “He’s pushing for a lot of playing time, he’s one of these tough guys that kind of brings it every day and he’s a guy I give a lot of credit to. Dean started one game last year against Iona, we hadn’t beaten them in 10 years, we were 0-2 in conference missing four starters, and he came in and started and shut down their leading scorer.”
Stephan’s former ND teammate Todd Oakley and Hopewell Valley’s Connor Markulec are also local players on the roster, along with recent Bordentown grad Dino Gromitsaris.
“I think we have a pretty talented team, but we have to defend better,” said Inverso, whose teams have been among the nation’s scoring leaders in recent years. “It’s an attacking team by design, that’s the way we want to build it and recruit around it.
“We want to look to attack, I think that’s the way the game should be played but you can’t think you’re going to score two or three goals a game all the time. The game has become more defensive. Everyone seems to want to sit in and counter, and there’s nothing wrong than that.”
Inverso feels his team just needs to be patient and wait for opportunities to arise while also defending effectively when opponents do counter. Rider fans should also be patient, as the Broncs are traditionally strong finishers; winning 14 of their last 18 games over the previous two seasons.
“Typically we’ve been a team that kind of peaks later in the year,” Inverso said. “We really don’t want to be playing our best in September. We want to be our best in November.”
HAWK GROUNDED
Notre Dame graduate Brian Hawkins, who had a stellar freshman season at Rutgers, will redshirt this year as he is recovering from a torn ACL. Hawkins played in all 21 games for the 12-7-2 Scarlet Knights last year, scoring two goals and three assists.
If there is a bright side, it is that Hawkins will get to play three seasons with his brother Chris, who has given a verbal commitment to Rutgers. Chris is a senior at Notre Dame.
As they prepare for Friday’s season opener at home with Creighton, the Knights still have their offensive leader in junior forward Jason Wright. The Jamaican was the unanimous Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2015 after collecting 13 goals and five assists.
During the preseason, Wright was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Preseason Best XI Second Team; included on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and named a preseason first-team All-American by College Soccer News. Top Drawer named him one of the top returning forwards in the country.
After defeating LIU Brooklyn in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year, Rutgers is ranked No. 25 in the NSCAA pre-season poll. The Knights open against No. 7 Creighton, with No. 20 Denver paying a visit Sunday.
TCNJ PICKED SEVENTH
Despite bringing back four All-Conference performers, The College of New Jersey has been picked to finish seventh in the 10-team New Jersey Athletic Conference Coaches Preseason Poll.
Coming off a 10-5-2 mark (45-0 in the conference), the Lions return All-NJAC players, featuring senior midfielder Nick Costelloe (13 goals, 2 assists), senior forward Thomas Hogue (3 goals, 7 assists), and sophomore midfielders Joerg Jauk (2 goals, 1 assist) and Nick Sample (4 goals, 4 assists).
VIKES DRAW IN OPENER
Coming off a 20-2-4 season and a Region 19 championship, Mercer opened on Wednesday with a 2-2 tie at Suffolk, NY. The Vikings are in Hagerstown Saturday and have their home opener at noon Sunday against CCBC Catonsville.
Anthony Remboski (Steinert) and North Brunswick High grad Jared Rogers had goals against Suffolk for the Vikes, who play four of their first five games on the road.