College Field Hockey
Rider University 3, Monmouth University 0
Northeast Conference Game
Broncs Clinch NEC Title and host Playoffs November 5-6
LAWRENCEVILLE-The Rider University field hockey team clinched the 2010 Northeast Conference regular season championship with its 10th win in a row, defeating in-state rival Monmouth University in a battle for first place Friday afternoon.
"I was really happy with the intensity that we brought to the field today," said head coach Lori Hussong. "Monmouth is a really good team and we knew it was going to be a battle. There was a lot at stake today."
For Rider (13-3, 6-0 NEC), junior Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/West Windsor-Plainsboro North) had two goals to lead the offense.
Pisani got the Broncs on the board 18:51 into the game, tipping in a pass from sophomore Jackie Adams (Medford Lakes/Shawnee) to give Rider a 1-0 lead.
"We were working real well as a team today," Pisani said. "We made some nice give and go plays and that got us open for some good shots. I'm really proud of my teammates for how we came ready to play."
"Megan has been struggling with some injuries and today, she finally looked like herself," Hussong said. "Sandra (Penas) also looked good and it was good to have them both on the field at the same time and not have to sub them out."
Ten minutes into the second half, freshman Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain) took a short pass from fellow rookie Alicia Govannicci (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) for her team-leading 12th goal of the season giving Rider a two-goal lead. Govannicci now has six assists for the year.
Penas entered play as the leading goal scorer among all freshmen in the nation and ranks 19th overall in Division I in points and goals per game.
Pisani scored her 12th of the season with just over 10 minutes left in the game after junior Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) fed her at the top of the cage for the final score. Egusquiza, the 2009 NEC Player of the Year after earning NEC Rookie of the Year honors in 2008, has a Rider record 18 assists this season.
Egusquiza is the Rider career assist record holder with 40 and her 94 points are seventh best all-time at Rider.
Pisani, who assisted on a goal against Monmouth last season, now has five career points against the Hawks.
Pisani has four game-winning goals this season and 13 in her career. Despite being held without a point as a Rider rookie, Pisani is now 12th all-time on the Bronc scoring list with 73 points and her 33 goals are ninth best all-time at Rider.
Junior goalie Rebecca Lotito (Oceanport/Shore Regional) made two saves to pick up her 10th win of the season. Lotito, who leads the nation in goals against average, has not allowed a goal in 412:14 and notched her sixth shutout of the season.
"Our defense has really tightened things down," Hussong said. "The whole unit has worked really hard to keep the ball out of our circle."
"We were missing two key players due to injury and we made the adjustments we needed to make," Lotito said. "I think it is fantastic that we haven't been scored on. The unit is playing awesome."
Lotito is undefeated in 10 starts this season with a goals against average of 0.20.
Rider out-shot the Hawks 11-3 and held a 9-6 penalty corner advantage.
The Broncs have not allowed a goal in six conference games this season. Last season, Rider allowed only one goal in eight conference games, during a 3-1 win at Monmouth.
"Our defense has been stepping up all season," Pisani said. "We're confident in each other and 'Tito' (Rebecca Lotito) has been playing awesome. The defense is giving momentum to the offense."
Rider has won 18 of the 28 games (three ties) all-time against Monmouth and avenged an overtime loss to the Hawks in the 2009 NEC semifinals after entering the game 17-1.
"There is not a day that I don't think about that game," said Pisani. "This was (so far) our biggest game of the season and we were able to capitalize."
"I was doing positive reinforcement this week," said Hussong. "I was reminding them how it felt to dog-pile when they won the 2009 regular season title against Lock Haven. I didn't want to focus on the bad feeling that we had after the playoffs. It may come up this week but it is not something I constantly remind them of."
The Broncs can secure the 2010 NEC regular season title out-right with a win against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday at noon.
"It will be awesome to clinch the title out-right on Sunday," Pisani added. "We are still just taking things one game at a time but this is a really good feeling."
"We are happy that we've gotten at least a piece of the title today," Hussong said. "That is always one of our goals but our ultimate goal is to win the championship and we have put ourselves in a good position to go after the next goal on the list and get back to the NCAAs."
"We are playing each game like it is our last," Lotito added. "Every game is a challenge that we expect to live up to."
Prior to the game, Rider will honor its graduating seniors, Margaret Ecke (New Egypt), Kristy Kelly (Bethlehem, Pa/Freedom) and Lindsay Rajeski (New Egypt).
Undefeated on its new turf field (6-0), Rider will be the top seed and host the upcoming NEC playoffs November 5-6.
Dating back to the 2008 season, Rider has won 15 regular season NEC games in a row.
Rider has won the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009 and now the 2010 NEC Regular Season Title with the Broncs winning the NEC Championship in 2000, 2002 and 2004. The Broncs have reached the NEC Title Game in eight of the last 10 seasons and this is the 11th season in a row that Rider has qualified for the four-team NEC playoffs, all under head coach Hussong.
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