College Field Hockey
Rider University 4, Temple University 1
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.-The Rider University field hockey team won its second in a row to start the 2009 season, scoring a 4-1 win against Temple at Drexel's Buckley Field in Philadelphia.
"I think that any time you beat a team like Temple it is going to give your team confidence," said head coach Lori Hussong. "We came in here right after a really good win over the weekend against Lehigh. Every time we play Temple, it is a 50-50 game and we've been so close to beating them the last couple of seasons and just haven't been able to get over the hill. This time around I think the team was ready from the time that the whistle blew."
For the Broncs, sophomore forward Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/W. Windsor Plainsboro-North) scored a hat trick with freshman forward Jackie Adams (Medford Lakes/Shawnee) adding her third goal of the season.
"We just got on them really early and we came out really aggressive from the beginning," said Pisani, a Secondary Education/Math major. "The emotion just takes over you. The game was amazing and exciting."
"Megan is playing really well right now and her confidence is at a level that it has never been at," said Hussong. "She is very productive on the field and her effort is undying. With each game and each time she steps on the field, she gains more confidence and she still has the potential to play even better."
Pisani got Rider (2-0) on the board with an unassisted tally 4:36 into the contest with Adams, the reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week making it 2-0 Rider five minutes later off a Pisani assist.
Pisani scored again just before intermission off a pass from sophomore Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) and the Broncs led 3-0 at the half.
Pisani scored her third goal of the game 10 minutes into the second half before Temple broke up the shutout with 12 minutes left.
Senior goalie Lyndsie Johnson (Gibbsboro/Eastern) made six saves as each team recorded 14 shots.
"We cashed in on our opportunities early which made it a lot easier to play during the rest of the game," Hussong added. "That took some of the pressure off and then Lyndsie stopped some major shots. Temple had a lot of flurries on us with multiple shot attempts and Lyndsie played well and came up big. She came up with some huge saves and if she didn't it could have been a closer game."
Temple held a 7-5 penalty corner advantage.
This is the first time in seven tries that Rider has defeated the Owls in a series that dates back to 1984. Temple is now 1-2 on the season and had recently received votes in the NFHCA Coaches Top 25 Poll.
The teams last played at Temple with the Owls winning 3-1 over Rider on September 25, 2007.
After allowing six goals during an 0-3 start last season, the Bronc defense had only allowed three goals so far this season and one was on a penalty stroke. "The defense is getting stronger with each game," Hussong said. "As we start communicating better and getting a good feel for each other on the field I think we are going to be even tougher to score on."
"This is a great start for us this year," Pisani added. "I think we are going to be very successful if we keep up our hustle and our hard work. Lehigh and Temple are two very good teams and the fact that we won both means a lot."
The Broncs travel to Hamilton, New York to face Central Michigan on September 5 at 2pm before playing the host Red Raiders of Colgate on September 6 at noon.
-RU-
