Picinich Sets Up Cunningham's Golden Goal, Women's Soccer Defeats Wagner in OT

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Senior Kourtney Cunningham (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) scored the golden goal in the 95th minute, her second goal in as many games to begin the season, off a Sam Picinich (North Bellmore, NY/Mepham) assist as the Rider University women's soccer team earned a come-from-behind 2-1 win in overtime Tuesday night at Wagner. With the win, the Broncs improve to 1-0-1, while the Seahawks drop to 0-2-0. The Seahawks struck first in the 41st minute, when Maria Nuñez headed in Autumn Clark's free kick. But the Broncs had the answer in the 60th minute, as Picinich headed in Valeria Pascuet's (Bunuel, Navarra, Spain/San Fermin Ikastola) free kick along the sideline. At the 94:23 mark, the comeback was complete, as Picinich weaved between defenders to get to a throw in, played it to the goal line right and then crossed in front to Cunningham. Cunningham then shot to the underside of the crossbar and it bounced over the goal line for the game winner. Quotes and Notes "It was a challenging match-up for us so it was good to show character again to come back from a goal down on the road. Sam scored a great goal from a set piece before setting up Kourtney for the game winner." - Rider Head Coach Drayson Hounsome - Tonight's match was the 10th in the all-time series with Wagner. Rider avenged a 2-1 loss last season in Lawrenceville to take a 6-4 lead in the all-time series with the Seahawks. - Picinich had a goal and an assist in the same game for the second time in her career. The first came last Sept. 23 against Fairfield. - In the final minute of regulation, Cunningham hit the crossbar on a would-be golden goal with 45 seconds remaining. Broncs By The Numbers - Cunningham's goal gives her 14 goals and 40 points for her career, good for ninth in program history in both categories. Next on the points list is current Rider assistant coach Tara Ballay (45), while Ellie Smith and Michelle Iacono are both next on the goals list with 19 each. - Pascuet's first assist of the season is the eighth of her Rider career. - Picinich now has four goals and four assists for her career, good for 12 points. - Sophomore goalkeeper Carmen Carbonell (Valencia, Spain/Guadalaviar School) made eight saves to earn the victory in goal. - Wagner took a 17-8 edge in shots, including a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal. - The Seahawks took eight corner kicks to the Broncs' five.