College Field Hockey
Rider University 2, Fairfield University 0
LAWRENCEVILLE?The Broncs won their third games in a row, defeating Fairfield in a non-conference game on Thursday afternoon. “We worked very hard today,” said head coach Lori Hussong.
Hunting for her first goal of the season, Rider (10-8), junior Mandy Hunter (Plainsboro/West Windsor Plainsboro-North) scored off an assist from freshman Allison Vogel (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game, breaking a scoreless tie. For Hunter it was her second career goal.
“It felt good to score,” said Hunter who is a Communication major at Rider. “It felt even better because it was a 0-0 game at the time so it was more important that someone scored.”
“It's nice for Mandy to get the game-winner,” said Hussong. “It was good that we capitalized on the chances that we had in the second half.”
Bronc junior Tricia Crotty (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) scored her team leading eighth goal of the season with nine minutes left for the final score. For Crotty it was the 30th goal of her career.
“It was a great way to finish the regular season off and go into the playoffs,” Hunter added. “We are on a roll now and have some good momentum as we head into the postseason. Everyone got in today and it was a good win.”
Senior goalie Jen LoCastro (Cherry Hill/Camden Catholic) played the first 66 minutes with sophomore Lyndsie Johnson (Gibbsboro/Eastern) playing the final four minutes as Rider recorded the shutout. Each goalie made one save as Rider out-shot the Stags 11-4.
“J-Lo has been solid for us all year,” Hussong added. “She has been making big plays for us in every game and she and the defense held us in a scoreless game with some nice plays.”
The Broncs held a 12-1 penalty corner advantage including 10-1 in the second half.
“I thought we had chances to score in the first half but we didn't shoot the ball,” said Hussong. “We worked so hard to bring the ball down the field and didn't get anything out of the opportunities. At halftime we just said we need to ?shoot in order to score' and we worked on pounding the ball into the circle in the second half.”
“In the first half, we had great offensive pressure but we weren't getting any shots,” Hunter remembered. “In the second half, Tricia [Crotty] did a great job taking it up the line and creating opportunities for us to get shots in the second half. That was the biggest difference between the two halves.”
Rider is now 14-4 all-time vs. the former NEC-rival Stags who switched to the America East conference for field hockey this season. Rider won at Fairfield in overtime last season by a score of 3-2 and has won seven in a row in the series dating back to the 2000 season.
The Broncs travel to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania November 2-3 for the Northeast Conference playoffs. Rider, the number two seed, will find out its opponent in pairings announced by the conference office next week.
“I'm excited about the playoffs,” Hunter added. “We are the number two seed and we have a good opportunity to win some games.”
“Anything can happen in the postseason,” Hussong said. Any of the four teams has a chance and we are looking to do the best that we can do.”
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