College Field Hockey
Rider University 5, Holy Cross 0
WORCESTER, Mass.--The Rider University field hockey team broke a three-game losing streak with a dominating 5-0 win at Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon. "It was good to see the team bounce back, especially after not playing very well the past week," said head coach Lori Hussong. "I was really happy to see the way we responded to the adversity."
For the Broncs, junior Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain), the 2009 Northeast Conference Player and 2008 NEC Rookie of the Year, had a goal and two assists with freshman Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain) scoring twice.
"Virginia played like Virginia and was all over the field," Hussong said. "Despite not feeling well, she played like a champion and was very vocal on the field and Sandra battled through some physical play, got a little mad and scored two nice goals for us."
Junior Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/W. Windsor Plainsboro-North) and freshman Alicia Govannicci (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) also had a goal and an assist for Rider (4-3).
"Meg plays hard every minute that she is on the field," said Hussong.
Pisani opened the scoring just 2:23 in with her sixth goal of the season, off a pass from Egusquiza on the right side of the circle to give the Broncs a 1-0 lead.
A little over eight minutes later, Egusquiza, off a scramble in front of the cage, gave a pass to Govannicci who knocked in her fourth of the season to give Rider a two-goal lead.
Ten minutes later, Penas scored her first of two goals with Govannicci delivering a cross from the left side of the circle and the Broncs led 3-0. Govannicci was named the NEC Rookie of the Week for all games played the first week of the season.
"The good start was important so that we took some pressure off the defense," Hussong said. "It allows you to intercept a little better and take more chances, knowing you have a three-goal lead. We also wanted to score as much as possible because of the way we lost the lead at Delaware and at Hofstra."
Against the Blue Hens, Rider had a 1-0 lead at the half and against the Pride, had a 2-0 lead at intermission before losing both games by one goal. All three games during Rider's losing streak were by one goal.
Two minutes before the half, Penas scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season on a breakaway and Rider led 4-0 at intermission. Penas was named the NEC Player and Rookie of the Week for all games played the second week of the season.
Egusquiza scored her third goal of the season off a Pisani pass in front of the cage with 27 minutes left in the game for the final score.
Egusquiza is now tied for 11th on Rider's all-time scoring list with 70 points (20 goals, 30 assists). Kelli Fisher scored 16 goals and set a Rider record with 38 assists (70 points) from 1989-1992.
Rider out-shot Holy Cross (0-6) 16-1 and the Broncs held a 7-0 penalty corner advantage.
Junior Rebecca Lotito (Oceanport/Shore Regional) did not have to make a save in recording her first career shutout.
"The early offense was great," Lotito said. "I had to really stay mentally ready in case the ball did get down the field because we (the defense) really wanted the shutout. I had all the confidence in the world that we would preserve it."
"We've been working hard to get our defense into championship form," Hussong said. "It was good to see that we could hold onto the shutout. 'Tito', even though she didn't face that many shots, she was still a vocal leader out on the field."
"We had a great win today," Lotito said. "The defense completely shut down Holy Cross and they were able to come into the circle two or three times. Everyone was talking and we all trusted the person in front of us and behind us and just played together as a team."
Kelly Sotsky made five saves for Holy Cross.
This was the first ever meeting between Rider and Holy Cross in field hockey.
Also singled out for giving Rider a spark off the bench was junior Natasha Tukeva (Easton, Pa./Freedom). "Natasha went in as a sub and brought energy all over the field," Hussong said about the junior forward. "She never, ever stops trying."
"We played well right from the start and everyone was fired up," Tukeva, a 33 game veteran said. "We were ready to get back on a winning streak. This was a really important game for us to be able to regain some confidence."
"We had to come home with a win today," Hussong said. "We could have really gone into a downward spiral if we didn't. This was a 'must win' game for us. We dug down and got the job done."
"I agree that it was a 'must win'," Lotito added. "We spoke before the game about regaining our confidence and we pulled things together. It shows what we are capable of doing."
Rider travels to West Chester on September 24 at 4:00pm. The Broncs defeated the Golden Rams 3-0 in Lawrenceville last season.
"We are anticipating a tough game against West Chester," said Hussong. "We are looking to keep improving in the final three games before conference play begins in October. That is why we prepare with a tough non-conference schedule."
-RU-
