College Field Hockey
Rider University 3, Bryant University 0
Northeast Conference Game
Egusquiza Ties Rider Career Assist Record
LAWRENCEVILLE--In a battle for first place between two teams that entered play undefeated in the Northeast Conference, the Rider University field hockey team posted a 3-0 win over Bryant University on Friday night at the new turf field on the Lawrenceville, New Jersey campus.
Senior Lindsay Rajeski (New Egypt) scored twice and had an assist for Rider (11-3, 4-0 NEC) who have now won eight in a row.
"Lindsay has been an offensive threat for us all year long," said head coach Lori Hussong, in her 11th season at Rider. "Tonight she was able to cash in on some great opportunities. That was good to see. She also played outstanding at the midfield for us."
"Every game is important," said Rajeski. "They were unbeaten in the conference and so were we and both teams played with confidence. We knew it wouldn't come easy and that we would have to work extremely hard."
Junior Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) had a goal and two assists with her second helper allowing her to tie the Rider career assist record held by Kellie Fisher who had 38 assists from 1989-1992.
"Virginia will be the first one to tell you she doesn't care about those types of accolades," Hussong said about Egusquiza tying the Rider assist mark. "She is so unselfish and if we would have cashed in on some of her other passes, she would have reached the mark much sooner."
Rajeski broke a scoreless tie two minutes into the second half on a penalty corner with Egusquiza and freshman Alicia Govannicci (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) assisting to give Rider the lead.
"Once we broke the seal, we settled down a little bit," Hussong said about the first goal. "We got some great shots and we just needed to finish a little better."
Egusquiza scored her eighth goal of the season off a pass from Rajeski from seven yards out to give the Broncs a two-goal lead with under eight minutes remaining.
Rajeski notched her second of the night and fifth of the season from Egusquiza and Govannicci on another penalty corner with just under six minutes remaining for the final score.
Egusquiza now has 88 career points, eighth best all-time at Rider and two points behind Stephanie Walker who had 36 goals and 18 assists (90 points) from 2004-2007.
Junior goalie Rebecca Lotito (Oceanport/Shore Regional), who has not allowed a goal in conference play, recorded her fifth shutout of the season, making three saves in the contest. Lotito entered play second in the nation in goals against average and lowered her g.a.a. to 0.55.
"The play of the defense has been crucial," Rajeski said. "Rebecca is doing a great job stopping the one on one plays and the defenders are also stepping up from behind."
Rider out-shot Bryant (6-10, 3-1 NEC) 30-3.
Jennifer Gullotti made 18 saves for the Bulldogs, 12 in the scoreless first half.
"We pelted their goalie with some great shots," Hussong said. "She kept coming up big for them. When a goalie keeps the other team in the game, you press a little more and it becomes that much harder to score."
The Broncs, who lead the nation averaging 13.5 penalty corners per game, held a 21-2 penalty corner advantage on the night.
"We had a lot of corner opportunities," Rajeski added. "We had a rough start but turned it around in the second half."
This was the third meeting between Rider and Bryant with the Broncs winning all three times. The Broncs also defeated Bryant by a 3-0 score last season.
Bryant had its five-game winning streak snapped.
Over 550 fans packed Rider's new turf field for the first-ever night field hockey game with the Broncs honoring almost 100 field hockey alumni who returned to support the team.
"This was great, especially under the lights," said Rajeski. "It was great to have that many people, our family, come back and support us. The Rider community has given us great support."
The 2004 team, which earned an NCAA play-in berth and was recognized with an outstanding team achievement at Rider's Hall of Fame ceremony in June, 2010 was also recognized.
The Broncs are now 4-0 at their new turf facility and end the regular season with three straight at home, starting with an NEC game against Siena at noon on Sunday.
"We are going to celebrate tonight and then it is back to work on Saturday to get ready for Siena," Rajeski said. "Every conference game matters."
Siena (0-4 NEC) lost at Monmouth (4-0 NEC) 10-0 on Friday afternoon. Rider and the Hawks are the only two undefeated teams remaining in conference play. Monmouth visits Rider on October 29.
"Every game is a big game for us in conference play," Hussong added. "Everyone is shooting to do their best against us and we need to keep our heads on our shoulders more so than some of the other teams. We need to continue to take one game at a time."
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