College Field Hockey
Colgate University 3, Rider University 0
DURHAM, N.H.?The Broncs dropped a non-conference game against Colgate hosted by the University of New Hampshire Saturday. “We played well in the midfield,” said head coach Lori Hussong. “We just can't seem to score.”
For Rider (0-2), senior goalie Jen LoCastro (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) made seven saves as the Red Raiders out shot the Broncs 17-9, including 11-5 in the second half.
Playing in her home state this weekend is junior midfield/forward Sarah Richards (Lee, N.H.) who played her high school ball at nearby Oyster River.
“Sarah was all over the field,” said Hussong. “She played an outstanding game today and made some key plays for us.”
“It was awesome playing near my home,” said Richards who is majoring in Biopsychology. “I had a lot of family and friends there today watching us play so it was a really good feeling.”
Tied at zero at halftime, Colgate (1-2) scored off a penalty corner three minutes after intermission and took the 1-0 lead into the final eight minutes of the game.
In an attempt to tie the game, Rider put on additional pressure with the Red Raiders scoring on the third rebound from a penalty corner with seven minutes left and Colgate added another rebound goal two minutes later for the final score.
“I thought we passed the ball well,” Richards added. “We just need to finish better in the circle. We need to be more organized. We hustled but we need to score and we can't win if we don't score.”
“Our lack of a consistent offense is putting a lot of additional pressure on the defense,” Hussong said. “Not enough opportunities at one end are hurting us on the other. We need to get a little more tenacious in the circle and cash in on the opportunities that are presented to us but overall I thought the effort was good.”
Junior forwards Diana Celebre (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem) and Tricia Crotty (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) along with freshman midfielder Michaela Franey each had two shots for the Broncs.
“The biggest difference so far is that we are not playing tough enough field hockey,” said Hussong. “We are getting bodied off the ball and we seem to be backing down from the '50-50' plays and we can't continue to do that. We need a more complete 70 minute effort.”
Rider stays in New Hampshire to face the Wildcats on Sunday at 2:00pm.
“Confidence wise, it is important for us to get something on the board on Sunday,” Hussong added. “We are going back to the drawing board, give our best effort and try to come out with the victory tomorrow. We need to sustain our energy and not pick and choose when we are going to play our hardest.”
“New Hampshire is a good team but we can definitely hang with them,” Richards added. “We just need to come out with a passion on Sunday and take it to them and be aggressive.”
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