College Field Hockey
Rider at Albany Tuesday for NCAA Play-In
ALBANY, N.Y.--Flicks among the snow flakes. Even though the weather outside says January, it is still the fall sports season and the Rider University field hockey team is still playing and playing and playing.
Fresh off its fourth Northeast Conference championship, the Broncs head north to snowy Albany to take on the Great Danes on Tuesday at 1pm with the winner advancing to the 2010 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship this weekend.
Rider (16-3) is led by junior Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) who is a two-time NEC Player of the Year after winning the conference Rookie of the Year award in 2008.
Egusquiza leads the Broncs and ranks fourth in the nation in assists with a Rider-record 22 and is 10th in points per game. Egusquiza, who has points in 17 of 19 games this season, was named the NEC tournament MVP this past weekend.
Leading the Rider defense is junior goalie Rebecca Lotito (Oceanport/Shore Regional) who leads the nation with a 0.58 goals against average.
Currently on a Rider record 13 game winning streak, the Broncs are playing in their fourth NCAA Play-In having competed against Boston U. in 2000 and Richmond in 2002 and 2004.
Rider defeated Monmouth 1-0 for the 2010 NEC Championship on November 6 with freshman Alicia Govannicci (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) scoring her seventh of the season with 3:01 left in regulation.
The Broncs won 4-2 over Quinnipiac in the semifinals on November 5 also at the new campus turf field in Lawrenceville.
Rider went undefeated in NEC play for the second year in a row and overall have won five NEC Regular Season Titles (2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010), all under head coach Lori Hussong who has 150 wins in 11 seasons.
Rider and UAlbany have split four meetings all-time with the Broncs winning the last two, 4-1 in 2003 and 2-1 in 2002.
The Great Danes defeated New Hampshire 3-2 in overtime on November 6 to win the America East championship and enter play 15-5 and are 15th in the latest Kookaburra / NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll.
The winner of the NCAA Play-In will receive an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA championship and will play on Saturday, November 13. The time, location and opponent will be announced during the 2010 NCAA Field Hockey Tournament Selection Show on Tuesday, November 9 at 8 pm. The selection show will be streamed live on ncaa.com.
LiveStats will be available for today's game on the UAlbany Athletics Website.
-RU-
