Raiders capture their first spring tournament title in program history.
Nashua, N.H. The Rivier University Raiders men's soccer team captured their first Rivier University Spring Tournament title last Sunday after a full day of competition and celebration of diversity. In addition to the Raiders 3rd annual spring tournament. The men's soccer program collaborated with the Office of Multicultural Engagement to host two "Rep Your Flag" events. Saturday night entailed a live hip-hop event with a DJ, performers, food and music. Then on Sunday, the men's soccer program hosted their annual spring tournament, with giveaways, free commemorative t-shirts, international music and a food truck serving delicious menu items from around the world.
This year, R.U.S.T. showcased a 4-team tournament between Westfield State University, Elms College and New Hampshire Technical Institute.
In game one, the Raiders faced the Lynx of NHTI. It was in the first five minutes of the game, centerback Chris Antonelli (Commack, N.Y.) buried a header off a corner kick swung in by freshman Cody Sicard (Salem, N.H.). This was Antonelli's 3rd goal of the year off a set piece and Cody's second assist. While the Lynx put up a good fight the Raiders were able to secure the win.
In game two, the Blazers of Elms College faced the Owls of WSU. Both teams put on a fantastic show that was evenly matched. The owls struck their first goal of the day off a well-placed through ball that found the feet of Nana Serebou (with minutes to go in the first half. Shortly into the second half the midfield dropped a perfectly placed ball at the top of the eighteen forcing the Elms keeper Aiden Berube (Chicopee, Mass.) and defender Yanni Koci (Bristol, CT.) into sticky situation decision eventually leading to an Kevough Brown (Bridegport, CT.) tap in.
Game three was between NHTI and the Elms. The Blazers came out with a vengeance going on to dominate the match 8-0. Several goal scorers were involved, Hunter Miket, Dante Pollett (Prospect, CT), Justin Asberry (Windsor, CT) Prince Chambass (Leominster, Mass.) each netted a goal apiece while Musa Jiana (Brikama, Gambia) and Bradyn Costa (Palmer, Mass.) tallied two apiece. While the score line wasn't in favor of the Lynx, the quality of their play did not reflect the deficit.
This past fall was the first year back to NHTI for Lynx Head Coach, Bill Miller. Miller came out of retirement to jumpstart the NHTI Men's Soccer Program to what it was during his first tenure between 1984-1997, where he captured eight national championship tournament titles. The current program finished 4-4-2 overall this past fall scoring an impressive 22 goals in the Yankee Small College Conference and is showing growth through recruitment.
It was the Raiders and Owls that made it to the end. While both teams were fired up, contest was truly a a chess match. Both teams took a conservative low-pressure approach, waiting for the opposition to make a mistake. Both teams had not conceded a goal to this point. Both team's goalkeepers made a handful of routine saves off crosses, corner kicks, and freekicks, however nothing terribly dangerous. The game ended 0-0 and went directly into penalty kicks.
Coach Streeter of WSU went with Nick Brown (Southwick, MA), Emilio Mancuso (Ludlow, Mass.) Jared O'Connor (Southwick, Mass.), Nana Serebou, Zach Matracia (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Josh Weitecha. Coach Barbosa went with Tommy Lanzillo (Mansfield, MA.), Ryan Hadouche (Nashua, N.H.), Hayden Bilodeau (Windham, N.H.), Pedro Campos (Downey,Ca.), Chris Antonelli and Cody Sicard. Both programs showed great sportsmanship however one bested the other. When the dust settled and the smoke cleared it was the Raiders that came out victorious. Westfield goalkeeper Drew Adams (North Attleboro, Mass.) saved one and another was off target, while Rivier goalkeeper Dominic Cunha denied three penalty kicks to secure the win, 0-0 (4-3 PKs). This is the first spring tournament title the program has captured in program history.
