College Field Hockey
Rider University 5, Saint Francis (Pa.) 1
LAWRENCEVILLE--On Halloween, the Red Flash of Saint Francis put a scare into the Rider University field hockey team before the Broncs responded with five unanswered second half goals to win the Northeast Conference Regular Season Championship for the second year in a row.
"I was not concerned at half time (trailing 1-0)," said Rider head coach Lori Hussong. "We were doing everything perfectly, except for the first five minutes of the game (when Saint Francis scored). We just weren't able to score. But there was never a doubt that we wouldn't score."
For Rider (14-3, 7-0 NEC), junior Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/West Windsor-Plainsboro North) scored three goals to lead the Broncs to the come from behind win.
"Meg has provided a real spark this year," Hussong said. "She adds another dimension to our game. She not only can score, she does so many other things for us."
"We knew we had to come out strong in the second half," said Pisani, who scored her first 'hat trick' of the season after compiling three three-goal games last season. "We started off slow but kept playing well."
Saint Francis (5-13, 3-4 NEC) jumped on the Broncs with a goal just 3:46 into the contest, ending the shutout streak of junior goalie Rebecca Lotito (Oceanport/Shore Regional) at 416 minutes. Lotito, who leads the nation in goals against average, had not allowed a goal in conference play entering the game.
Rider dominated the rest of the first half with a 17-4 shot advantage but the score remained 1-0 Red Flash at intermission. "We were dominating in the first half," Pisani said, "We just couldn't finish."
Freshman Alicia Govannicci (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) scored her sixth of the season two minutes into the second half off an assist from rookie Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain) to tie the score at one. "Once we scored that one it gave us all the momentum we needed," Pisani said.
Only two minutes later, Pisani took a Penas crossing pass and scored the game-winner. Pisani has five game-winning goals this season, including two game-winners in a row and 14 in her career.
Penas, the leading goal scorer in the nation among all freshmen, notched her 13th of the season in the 46th minute, scoring off a rebound to give the Broncs a two-goal lead.
In the 52nd minute, Pisani scored her second of the game, deflecting a shot by junior Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) and two minutes later, Pisani and Egusquiza hooked up again for the final score off an eight yard shot.
Pisani leads Rider with 15 goals and Egusquiza, the 2008 NEC Rookie and 2009 NEC Player of the Year, leads the Broncs with a Rider record 20 assists.
Lotito played 60 minutes, making three saves with freshman Rachel Yacovett (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area) playing the final 10 minutes.
Rider out-shot the Red Flash 34-4 and held a 20-2 penalty corner advantage, including 10-0 in the second half.
The Broncs defeated the Red Flash 1-0 in overtime in Loretto, Pennsylvania last season and are now 12-0 all-time against Saint Francis.
Dating back to the 2008 season, Rider has won 16 regular season NEC games in a row. "I'm happy for the players," Hussong said. "They've worked hard."
Undefeated in seven home games this season, Rider will host the four-team NEC playoffs on November 5-6. The Broncs will face number four seed Quinnipiac at 1:30 pm Friday with second seed Monmouth playing third seed Bryant in the other semifinal at 11:00 am. "Quinnipiac is a strong team," Hussong said. "We know we have to come out and play our best in order to get to the championship round."
Rider defeated Quinnipiac in Connecticut 1-0 in overtime on October 15. The Broncs defeated Monmouth 3-0 on October 29 in Lawrenceville and Rider defeated Bryant 3-0 on October 22 in Lawrenceville.
The championship game is scheduled for noon on November 6.
"We're playing pretty good hockey right now," Hussong said. "We're going to try to do the best we can. I think we'll come ready to play."
The official pairings with game times will be announced by the conference office on Monday.
Rider has won the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009 and now the 2010 NEC Regular Season Titles 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 Lori Hussong.
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