College Field Hockey
Rider University 2, Saint Joseph's University 1 (ot)
Penas Rider's All-Time Leading Scorer
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Freshman Nicole Hareau (Montevideo, Uruguay) scored the game-winner with 1:31 left in the first overtime to lead the Rider University field hockey team to a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Saint Joseph's on Friday afternoon at Ellen Ryan Field.
Hareau scored her second of the game and eighth of the season, taking a long pass from senior Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain) for the game-winner.
“Sandra (Penas) went through one of the defenders and gave me an excellent pass,” remembered Hareau. “I was right in front of the cage and was able to shoot it in. It was a great play by Sandra.”
“The opening half, we didn't win the '50/50' plays,” said head coach Lori Hussong. “Saint Joseph's is much better than their record indicates. They played a beautiful passing game. We had a ton of chances to score and just didn't put the ball in the goal.”
“It was a really tough game,” Penas said. “I don't think anyone was expecting that we were going to have to play overtime.”
Saint Joseph's (2-8) took a 1-0 lead just 1:40 into the second half on a penalty corner.
Rider (7-3) tied the game 78 seconds later with Hareau re-directing a Penas shot in front of the cage.
“Both goals were great assists by Sandra,” Hareau said. “She pretty much did all of the work and I was just in the right place at the right time.”
“It's been a difficult year, having to play five freshmen right away,” Hussong said. “Our seniors, especially Sandra and Alicia (Govannicci) have provided veteran leadership to help get the younger players up to speed. They were workmen for us and without them, we would not have had a successful result in the game.”
“We started the game slowly,” Govannicci said. “Then we started talking more and also hustling more. That really helped us. We started working with each other and that got us going.”
“There are a lot of freshmen on the field at any given time,” Hareau said. “We are starting to play better as a team.”
“As a senior, it is a big responsibility to keep everyone on track,” Govannicci added. “I think we are starting to come together. It was rough in the beginning but we are starting to gel.”
“We are counting on the freshmen,” Penas said. “They are on board and are doing a really good job.”
The first assist by Penas allowed her to set the Rider career scoring mark. Penas now has 152 points in her Bronc career (60 goals, 32 assists), passing 2011 graduate Virginia Egusquiza for first place on the all-time list.
“The record is a great accomplishment but honestly, I'm just glad we won the game,” Penas said. “The success of the team is the most important thing. And I was really happy that Virginia was here today. I would have never accomplished this without her.”
A graduate student, Egusquiza is in her first season as an assistant coach with Rider.
Sophomore goalie Joelle Prettyman (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) made five saves for the Broncs.
Hawk goalie Rachel Barnett made seven saves.
“Sandra sent some great shots at the goal and the Saint Joseph's goalie was hot,” Hussong said. “Sandra's best attribute today was her passing ability and she should have had about four or five more assists if we were ready for her passes. Her effort was outstanding.”
Rider out-shot the Hawks 26-12, including 8-1 in overtime and the Broncs held a 10-5 penalty corner advantage, including 4-0 during the extra session.
“We dominated the second half,” said Penas. “We just didn't score. We came together at the end and got the job done. To win the game feels good.”
Saint Joseph's and Rider have met 16 times since the series began in 1981 with the Broncs winning for the fifth time and three games ending in a tie. The teams last met on September 17, 2010 with the Hawks prevailing 2-1.
Rider improved to 2-0 in overtime this season.
The Broncs travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to take on Lehigh Sunday afternoon.
“Our main objective is to be ready for conference play,” Hussong added. “We only have two more games before Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play begins. Time is running out and we need to improve and push ourselves to do a better job than we are doing.”
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