College Field Hockey
Rider University 1, Quinnipiac University 0
Northeast Conference Game
LAWRENCEVILLE--Rider sophomore Virgina Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) broke a scoreless tie in the 61st minute off an assist from sophomore Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/W. Windsor Plainsboro-North) to give Rider (12-0, 3-0 NEC) a 1-0 win over Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon in a Northeast Conference game.
"I think that both teams played exceptionally well, said head coach Lori Hussong. "It's not that Rider didn't play well, Quinnipiac just played outstanding today. It was tough to get by their defense."
Egusquiza scored her eighth goal of the season after deflecting a Pisani shot off a penalty corner with 9:47 left in the game. Pisani, a two-time NEC Player of the Week honoree, now has four assists on the season.
"It was a great play from Megan (Pisani)," Egusquiza remembered. "She went to the end line and beat a couple of girls and then she passed it to me and I pushed it in the goal. We were a little nervous that the game was so close, but we had good momentum in the second half and it carried on after the goal."
This was Egusquiza's third game-winning goal of the season and sixth of her career.
"It all started out with the play of junior Kristy Kelly (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom)," said Hussong. "She played amazing in the middle of the field and was really putting a lot of pressure on them. She was able to get the ball to Pisani and Megan was able to dribble to the baseline and set up a beautiful pass to Virginia to finish it off. It was hard work. It was not easy at all to get that goal in."
Senior goalie Lyndsie Johnson (Gibbsboro/Eastern) made one save for her 12th win of the season and seventh by shutout. Johnson, who has not allowed a goal by Quinnipiac in her career, lowered her goals against average to 0.49. Johnson entered the week second in the nation in g.a.a.
"Lyndsie stayed poised," Hussong said. "Quinnipiac had a couple of good opportunities to score on us and she was able to handle that pressure. I think it is from her experience as a veteran player."
Rider out-shot the Bobcats 20-1 (15-0 in the second half) and held a 10-3 penalty corner advantage, including 6-2 in the second half.
"One of the big keys was that we did not have pressure on the ball in the first half," Hussong added. "We had more pressure in the second half, especially on the free hits. Quinnipiac was not able to take their free hit and lift it down the field without it being contested. I felt that was a key to winning the game today."
Jenna Gross made 10 saves for Quinnipiac.
"They are all steady and can all hit the ball out hard," Hussong said about the play of Quinnipiac. "They all have heavy sticks and play great circle defense; it was outstanding. You have to give the credit to our kids for just trying and trying to figure out how to put the ball in the cage. We had a couple more chances then they did and thankfully we were able to cash in on one of ours. Their defense played great. They pushed us outside really well and made it hard to penetrate them through the middle. Our normal offense dribbling to the baseline and passing it back was not there today because they were all over us."
Despite being held scoreless for over 60 minutes today, the Broncs still have not trailed in a game this season.
Last season, Rider defeated Quinnipiac 4-0 in Hamden, Connecticut and overall, the Broncs have won 12 of the 22 games against the Bobcats.
Rider remains one of only three undefeated teams in NCAA Division I, along with Maryland (14-0) and North Carolina (13-0). The Tar Heels won at Duke 2-1 on Sunday. UNC hosts Maryland in Atlantic Coast Conference play on October 24.
"I think our team stayed poised," Hussong said. "We kept trying and gave our best effort and I think that was the best thing out of this game. We were calm and didn't panic. We did not quit on each other and we got the job done."
The Broncs host Bryant University (4-8, 1-2 NEC) in an NEC game on October 16 at 4:00pm. The Bulldogs lost to defending NEC champion Lock Haven 2-0 on Sunday.
"We are just going to continue to take one game at a time," said Hussong. "Bryant is a dangerous team as well and we did not roll over them by any means last year (in a 2-1 Rider win). They were tough to beat. We expect the same thing this coming weekend."
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