PHILADELPHIA, Pa.?Trailing 3-0 at halftime, the Rider University field hockey team staged a furious comeback, falling short at Temple on Sunday afternoon. “We made some adjustments at halftime,” said head coach Lori Hussong. “The kids battled and played very well, with a lot of intensity and pride and that got us back into the game.”
Senior Tricia Crotty (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) got Rider (3-5) on the board with an unassisted goal with 22 minutes remaining, her team-leading sixth goal of the season and 38th of her career and junior Erin McGinniss (Newton/Kittatinny Regional) hit the back of the cage with 19 seconds remaining for the final score. For McGinniss, it was her third goal of the season.
“Erin is definitely one of the hardest working players out on the field,” Hussong said. “There is never a minute where she rests on the field and that's our style of play. Erin is a much needed ingredient to our success this year.”
Junior goalie Lyndsie Johnson (Gibbsboro/Eastern) made seven saves for the Broncs.
Temple scored on a two on one 12 minutes into the game and notched two more goals, five minutes apart to lead by three with six minutes remaining in the first half.
“For the first 12 minutes we played very well and once Temple scored, we had a letdown,” said Hussong. “We got off our game plan.”
The Owls out-shot Rider 12-8 with the Broncs holding a 6-4 shot advantage in the second half.
Temple held an 8-2 penalty corner advantage.
The Broncs have never defeated Temple in the seven game series that began in 1984. Rider lost to the Owls 3-1 during the 2007 season.
“We're the underdog anytime we play a team like Temple,” said Hussong. “One of these days, we are going to knock off a team of their caliber. These games make us a tougher team mentally going into the conference schedule next month.”
This was Rider's second straight loss, both by one goal and the Broncs are 2-4 season in one-goal games.
The Broncs travel to College Park, Maryland to face Georgetown at 6:00pm on Tuesday.
“We are looking to get back in the win column,” Hussong added. “If we play the way we did in the second half today, I think we'll do fine.”
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