College Field Hockey
Rider University 9, Ball State University 3
HAMILTON, N.Y.--With 13 letterwinners back including the top three scorers in the Northeast Conference, you had a feeling that the offense would be good. If the opening game of the 2011 Rider field hockey season is any indication, this could be one special season.
The defending Northeast Conference champion Broncs opened the 2011 campaign with a resounding 9-3 non-conference win against Ball State, hosted by Colgate University.
"The players really got on track and put the ball in the back of the cage," said head coach Lori Hussong, in her 12th season at Rider. "That was nice to see. We had a lot of different players scoring and that makes it very difficult to stop us. That was a positive."
Rider's ladies of Spain, senior Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain/ies Julio Caro Baroja) and sophomore Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain/ies Joaquim Blume) each scored twice with Egusquiza adding an assist for a five point game.
"Virginia played outstanding," Hussong said. "Her goals were just exceptional. And Sandra was great as well."
"I felt very good about the way the team played," said Egusquiza, the two-time reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Year. "I'm healthy and I'm happy to be on the field again and I'm especially happy about how the team performed."
Penas, the 2010 NEC Rookie of the Year, opened the scoring 15 minutes into the game with freshman Eefje Kok (Berkel Enschot, Netherlands/Luzac College Breda) notching her first collegiate goal with an upper left corner shot three minutes later.
"We all played well," Penas said. "It was a good start to the season. The team played well together."
One minute later, junior Marlaine Schneider (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy) scored on a rebound and Egusquiza gave Rider a 4-0 lead on a reverse chip from the top of the circle nine minutes before the half.
The Cardinals got on the board at the 31:17 mark on a tip-in before Egusquiza scored again with a center circle shot, 2:32 before intermission off a Schneider assist and Rider led 5-1 at the half.
Egusquiza's shot on goal was tipped in by senior Megan Pisani (Plainsboro/W. Windsor-Plainsboro North) five minutes into the second half with Penas notching her second goal of the day on a breakaway from Schneider two minutes later and the Broncs led 7-1.
Freshman Stacey Dileo (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) put a shot inside the right post for her first collegiate goal with 25 minutes left in the contest and sophomore Alicia Govannicci (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) scored off a scramble in front with 21 minutes left to complete the Bronc scoring.
Ball State scored twice in the last six minutes for the final score.
"We're concentrating on playing our best and getting our defense much needed experience," Hussong said. "Our goal is to keep the ball out of our circle and for about 50 minutes or so, we did a great job of doing that. We had a couple of mistakes late in the game that cost us but we will learn from those experiences."
Rider out-shot Ball State 20-18. Senior goalie Rebecca Lotito, the national leader in goals against average last season, allowed one goal and made three saves in 57 minutes. Freshman Rachel Sload (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) made three saves in the final 13 minutes of play, allowing two goals.
This is Rider's highest offensive output since a 9-0 win against Catawba on August 28, 2005.
"Nine goals is a great start," Hussong added. "Once we got it going, our passing, our messing, we looked pretty good out there; now we need to take care of the defensive end."
Senior defender Natasha Tukeva (Easton, Pa./Freedom) led the defensive effort with two defensive saves in the contest.
"Having so many players with the ability to score, it really increases our chance of winning and having team success," Egusquiza said. "You can't just key on me or Sandra, there are others who can score so teams have to be aware of them as well."
This was the first meeting between Rider and Ball State in field hockey.
Rider stays in New York to face Colgate at noon on Sunday, weather permitting.
"We are excited to get right back on the field tomorrow," Penas said. "We are hoping to continue the offensive output and also keep the other team from scoring."
"Colgate beat Ball State 3-0 on Friday and it is going to be a tough game," said Hussong. "Every time we play them, it is a tough battle. We have to show up and play 70 minutes of strong hockey and keep working to get better. Each time out, heading into conference play, we need to improve and take steps to get better."
Better than nine goals? This could be a special season.
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