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Rider’s Drayson Hounsome was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year and sophomore was named to the All-MAAC Second Team at the 2010 MAAC Championship Pre-Tournament dinner on November 2.

In just his third season, Hounsome led Rider to its first top-four finish in the conference since 2004 after being picked to finish ninth in the 10-team league. “I’m surprised, really,” Hounsome said.  “It’s an honor to receive this; there are so many good coaches in the league. It is really a credit to the work the team put in. Honestly, I'm shocked.”

Cottam finished second in the MAAC with five game-winning goals and was seventh in the conference in points (21), seventh in goals (8) and eighth in assists (5). “That is a strong season at the Division I level,” Hounsome said. “She has so many aspects to her game that make her a dangerous player: pace, vision, finesse, intelligence and a great first touch. This season was really just the beginning of her soccer career here at Rider.”

Cottam, of Leominster, England, missed the first 11 games of her rookie season last year with a preseason eye injury and still went on to share theteam lead in assists for 2009. “She has the potential to be one of the best ever at Rider,” Hounsome said.

Named to the MAAC All-Rookie team were freshman of Sayville, N.Y., freshman of Westfield, N.J., and freshman of Marlton, N.J.

Meier was eighth in the MAAC in goals (6) and 10th in points (15), while Bartkowski finished eighth in assists (5).  Kape started all 17 games she played on the Broncs defense.

In addition, 11 members of the Rider soccer team were honored by the MAAC for their high grade point averages. 

“Of all the things I am proud of with this group of student-athletes, their performance in the classroom is at the very top,’ Hounsome said. “A year ago, we challenged them to be the best student-athletes that they can be, both in the classroom and on the pitch, so for 11 of 15 to be recognized with MAAC all-academic honors is excellent.”

The following Broncs were named to the MAAC All-Academic team: Cottam; sophomore of Mattituck, N.Y.; sophomores and of Holtsville, N.Y.; senior of Annandale, N.J.; sophomore (Stratham, N.H.; senior of Whitehall, Pa.; senior of Chalfont, Pa.; sophomore of (Melbourne, Australia; sophomore of Deddington, England; and sophomore of East Greenwich, R.I.

Cottam, Rider’s leading scorer, owns a 4.0 grade point average as a Psychology major. Mello has played in 11 games and owns a 3.4 GPA while majoring in Accounting. Mohr shares the team lead in assists and owns a 3.8 GPA as an Elementary Education major. Monaco has started all 18 games and has a 3.3 GPA as a Biology major.

Musumeci, an Andrew J. Rider Scholar, is fourth in career scoring at Rider and owns a 3.9 GPA as a Chemistry major.

Nichols and Post are the Broncs goalkeepers. Nichols owns a 3.5 GPA while majoring in Business, while Post, recently named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week, tied the single-season record for shutouts (6) and is one shy of the career record, while maintaining a 3.5 GPA as a Business major.

Perkoski, a veteran of 74 Rider games, owns a 3.5 GPA as an Accounting major, while  Sandefur majors in Business and has a 3.9 GPA. Stevens has a 3.5 GPA in Law Enforcement and Thompson, who scored the game-winning goal in the regular-season finale to beat Loyola and put Rider in the playoffs, has a 3.9 as a Public Relations major.

Rider, the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Women’s Soccer Championship, dropped a tight 1-0 decision to top-seeded Canisius in the semifinals on November 5 to end their season.

An Eye for the Game -- Abi Cottam Has Shown Net Results for Women’s Soccer at Rider