College Field Hockey
Rider University 3, West Chester University 0
LAWRENCEVILLE--Sophomore Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) had a goal and two assists with senior Lyndsie Johnson (Gibbsboro/Eastern) recording her third shutout in a row as the Rider University field hockey team defeated West Chester University Friday afternoon.
Johnson made three saves as the Broncs improved to 8-0 on the season.
"It was a total defensive effort," said head coach Lori Hussong. "The whole defense is playing well. We are a hard team to get shots off against. For WCU to penetrate our circle, which they did a couple times today, it was very difficult. If we can continue to keep teams outside of our circle we will be really hard to score on."
"We work well with each other on defense and have that chemistry together," said Johnson who lowered her goals against average to 0.48. "If one pass were to go wrong the other person knows to step up and when to be aggressive and not. It is a luxury to be able to just relax and play when you have such an aggressive offense and an amazing defense. It makes my job a lot easier working together as a unit. It feels amazing to be undefeated."
Johnson entered the week with the fourth lowest goals against average in the nation and has four shutouts in her last five games.
Sophomore Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/West Windsor-Plainsboro North) got Rider on the board 14 minutes into the game, scoring her team-high 11th goal of the season off an Egusquiza crossing pass from eight yards out.
"I thought that we got off to a sluggish start," said Hussong. "We were not communicating well and not talking defensively either. Then we started to get it going with stick to stick passing. They (Pisani, Egusquiza, Schneider) made it look beautiful the way they moved the ball down the field and created scoring chances."
Five minutes before halftime, freshman Marlaine Schneider (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy) notched her fourth goal of the season with a shot from two yards with Egusquiza logging her second assist.
Schneider, who had five shots on the day, was named Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week for all games this past week after scoring in double overtime to give Rider a 1-0 win at Radford on Sunday.
Egusquiza scored on a penalty stroke one minute after the Schneider goal and the Broncs led 3-0 at the half. Egusquiza led Rider with eight shots on goal.
Rider is out-scoring its opponents 20-1 in the first half and has not trailed in any game this season.
Egusquiza, the NEC Rookie of the Year last season, now has six goals and a team-high six assists in 2009.
"We did not come out as strong and as well as we normally play," Egusquiza said. "We started to make smarter passes and communicated more as the first half went on. When the players in the middle spread the field, the forwards have to then just get the ball and go and hustle."
"Virginia played outstanding," Hussong said. "You look at her out on the field and she is a lot of fun to watch. She sets up so many people for scoring opportunities and she is just so unselfish. She would rather pass the ball than score a goal."
Last season, Rider also scored the first three goals at West Chester and held on for a more dramatic than it had to be 3-2 win.
"We knew at the half that we could not relax," Hussong added. "We always have battles with WCU. They came back on us last year and they were down to Rutgers 3-0 and came back and beat them in overtime 5-4 this season. Kathy (Krannebitter) is a great coach and she gets her kids going especially in the second half."
The Broncs out-shot the Golden Rams 14-2 in the first half and 23-3 for the game and held a 9-3 penalty corner advantage.
"Our defense buckled down in the second half and played a much better game," Hussong added. "It is always a dog fight so we always come prepared for a tough game."
Joelle Zarefoss made 12 saves for West Chester.
Rider, which played on its home field in Lawrenceville for the first time this season, entered the week as one of only seven undefeated teams in Division I including North Carolina (9-0), Maryland (8-0), Virginia (8-0), Connecticut (7-0), Stanford (7-0) and Cornell (6-0). The Broncs opened the 2009 season August 29 with a 'home' game on Princeton Day School's turf field against Lehigh.
"It is nice to be home," Hussong added. "We haven't been home in over a month. Facilities did a great job with the field. This field could not have played any faster today."
The Broncs have won two in a row over the Golden Rams and eight of the 18 games (one tie) all-time against West Chester in a series that started in 1992.
Rider hosts La Salle on October 1 at 4:00pm.
"They (La Salle) are an up and coming team," Hussong said. "They have a new coach this year and they gave (NEC preseason favorite) Lock Haven all they could handle. Lock Haven only beat La Salle 4-2, so we expect that it will be a tough game."
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