College Field Hockey
Rider University 3, Central Michigan University 0
HAMILTON, N.Y.--You always hear the phrase that history repeats itself. For the Rider University field hockey team, that is exactly the thought process after a 3-0 win on Saturday over the Chippewas of Central Michigan, hosted by Colgate University at Tyler's Field.
History as in a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2004 season. That season saw the Broncs start 4-0 enroute to the Northeast Conference championship and an NCAA Play-In game at Richmond. "I'm really happy for the team," said head coach Lori Hussong who notched her 120th career win at Rider. "Today was a great game for us. Everyone was contributing and there wasn't one player that CMU could key on."
Against CMU (1-1), the 2009 edition of the Broncs jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 6:46 into the game on a deflection in front of the cage by sophomore Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/W. Windsor Plainsboro-North) off of a shot by freshman Jackie Adams (Medford Lakes/Shawnee).
"Megan played well," Hussong said. "She is becoming more confident in her ability to score. When you put the ball on the cage, good things are going to happen."
"We have been starting off games strong," said Pisani, a Secondary Education/Math major. "We scored a quick goal and kept the pressure on CMU. This is a huge win for us."
Adams, the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week for all games last week, gave Rider a two-goal lead, six minutes before half time, notching her second goal of the week and fourth of the season.
Senior goalie Lyndsie Johnson (Gibbsboro/Eastern) stopped a break away just before the half to preserve Rider's 2-0 lead at intermission. Johnson made two saves as Rider out-shot CMU 14-6, to record her seventh career shutout. "Lyndsie was fantastic," Hussong said. "She made a huge save with about 30 seconds left before the half that would have put Central Michigan on the board. She came through on a point blank shot and really stifled the momentum that they had going."
"The defense is feeding off how fiery the offense is," said Johnson who is majoring in Psychology. "The offense worked very hard to get the ball down the field and the momentum feeds from the offense to the defense to the goalie. We communicated as a unit today and definitely worked with each other to keep the ball out of the circle."
That success was evident as Rider allowed only one penalty corner the entire game.
Pisani scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season off a pass from freshman Marlaine Schneider (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy) with 15 minutes left for the final score. "Marlaine played her best game of the season so far (with her two assists)" Hussong said. "She is only a freshman but boy does she have an intensity level. She made some great plays to get the ball across the cage and give us the opportunity to put the ball in the net."
For Pisani, it is her fifth goal and 11th point of the week, after scoring a hat trick at Temple on September 1.
"We're doing well so far," Schneider said who is majoring in Special Education. "We are hoping to have a great season for the rest of it. We all just work together well and we make it look a little easier than it is because we are a close knit group (family) that sticks together."
This season's edition of the Rider squad is combining an offensive that averages five goals a game and solid goalkeeping and defensive efforts that are allowing one goal a game.
"Everyone is playing well together," Hussong added. "There is team comradery and feistiness and they are willing to give it all and that is why we are successful right now."
Not to be lost in the start this season is the fact that 13 letterwinners return from the 2008 team that started 0-3 before getting hot and making the NEC Title game for the eight time in nine seasons. "The experiences from last season are helping us," said Hussong. "The bottom line is that the team has worked hard in the preseason and at the start of the regular season both on and off the field and they play hard together and are going to be a hard team to beat if they continue to do that."
"We've had an awesome start so far," Johnson added. "When you are 0-3 like we started last year, you definitely have more to prove and we've learned from that experience and wanted to get off to a solid start this year and the play of the freshmen especially has really lifted the team."
The Broncs stay in Hamilton, New York and face the host Raiders of Colgate at noon on Sunday. Colgate (0-2) lost to CMU 3-0 Friday night.
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