College Field Hockey
Rider University 3, Lehigh University 1
BETHLEHEM, Pa.?The Rider University field hockey team won its third straight game, all on the road, defeating Lehigh in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon. “We played a solid 70 minutes of field hockey,” said head coach Lori Hussong. “I'm happy that we learned from our losses early in the season and we're trying to progress forward, one game at a time.”
For Rider (3-3), junior Erin McGinniss (Newton/Kittatinny Regional) scored twice, the first two goals of her collegiate career to stake the Broncs to a 2-0 lead.
McGinniss hit the back of the cage nine minutes and thirty seconds into the game off an assist from senior Tricia Crotty (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) and McGinniss scored again two minutes later off a pass from senior Mandy Hunter (Plainsboro/W. Windsor Plainsboro-North).
“The team played great,” said McGinniss. “I got two great passes and was able to put them in. It was amazing.”
“We switched to a different system and put an extra player on the forward line because we were struggling to score,” said Hussong. “We got a season-high in shots today and Erin has done a great job moving up from midfield to forward.”
Lehigh (3-4) scored 10 minutes before half time and the Broncs led 2-1 at intermission.
“The forwards have really helped me out,” McGinniss said about the new offensive system. “I'm just going by what they have taught me.”
“We got up two goals and then Lehigh got one back,” Hussong said. “The key was that we held on and tightened it up on the defensive end. We held them off until we were able to get an insurance goal.”
Senior Diana Celebre (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem) gave Rider an insurance goal with 23 minutes remaining for the final score off of Crotty's second assist of the game. For Celebre, it was her third goal of the season.
Crotty finished the week with three goals and two assists after scoring a natural hat trick at West Chester. Crotty has four goals and two assists during the Rider winning streak.
“Tricia is playing out of her head right now,” Hussong added. “Right now, there is no stopping her.”
“Tricia is amazing,” McGinniss added. “I know that whenever she gets the ball, run as fast as I can toward the cage because she is going to put it right on your stick. She has awesome ?drive-in' skills and you just have to try to get there each time and she will find you.”
Junior goalie Lyndsie Johnson (Gibbsboro/Eastern) made eight saves for Rider. The Broncs put a season-high 21 shots on the Mountain Hawk cage, out-shooting Lehigh by seven.
“We've been emphasizing our offensive work down the field in practice,” said Hussong. “Getting the ball into the circle is one thing but we also need to be ready to score and I think the time in practice is now paying off for us.”
Lehigh held a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners, 7-0 in the opening half.
“The defense is getting better and better,” Hussong said. “If we can keep them focused the entire game and concentrating on what their job is supposed to be, I think we will be ok. We've been giving up some free corners with our ball handling in the defensive zone and I think that today, in the second half especially, we cut that down.”
Rider has won 14 of the 31 games (1 tie) in the series. Entering the game, the Mountain Hawks had defeated Rider twice in a row including a 4-2 decision last season.
The Broncs open the 2008 home schedule with a game against Radford at 4:00pm on September 26 on the Lawrenceville, New Jersey campus.
“The more we maximize our offensive opportunities and minimize our defensive mistakes, the better we will do,” Hussong said. “That was our game plan today.”
A plan well executed by a team headed in the right direction.
-RU-
