College Field Hockey
Rider University 1, Monmouth University 0
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Game
Play 4 The Cure

LAWRENCEVLLE—Playing 4 The Cure on a special night, against a special rival for a special person on Ben Cohen Field.

The Rider University field hockey team won its fifth game in a row and opened Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play with a 1-0 win over hOURglass rival Monmouth University on Friday night in its annual Play 4 The Cure game.

“Anytime we play Monmouth, it is one of the toughest games of the season,” said head coach Lori Hussong.  “There is a huge rivalry between the two schools and you saw two excellent teams just going after each other and playing with a lot of pride and spirit.”

The Broncs and Hawks teamed up in a Play 4 The Cure game, raising donations and awareness in the battle against breast cancer and to honor team mentor Cathy Carter Romero, Rider's Director of Publications who is a breast cancer survivor.

Rider (8-5, 1-0 MAAC) junior Melyssa Alonso (Toms River/Toms River HS North) scored her second goal of the season, just 8:40 into the contest, with senior Laura McCormick (West Windsor/West Windsor-Plainsboro South) credited with the assist after a Hawk defensive save on the initial corner, initiated by senior Dezarae Fillmyer (Roebling/Florence).

McCormick had four of Rider's eight shots in the game.

“Melyssa was 'Charlie Hustle' all over the field,” said Hussong.  “When we needed a big play, she got to the ball.  It was an awesome effort from her.”

This is the second game in a row that Alonso has recorded the game-winner.

“Dez (Fillmyer) passed the ball on the corner and I was at the post and I was able to hit it in off the scramble,” Alonso said.  “It felt great to get the lead and it motivated the team and set the tempo.”

Junior goalie Joelle Prettyman (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) made four saves in recording her second shutout of the season.  Prettyman went 2-0 last week with a 0.87 goals against average to earn MAAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

“Joelle is playing great,” Alonso said.  “The defense was strong tonight.”

“It was a tough game,” said Prettyman.  “My defense was strong in front of me, I don't think I had to face anything in the second half.  The defense worked really hard.”

“The back line played well,” Hussong said.  “To have the players in front of her, all Joelle had to do was worry about her job and she played well, making key saves.”

Of Prettyman's four saves, only one occurred in the final 35 minutes as the Bronc defense clamped down on the Hawk offensive attack.  Rider played down a player for one-third of the second half after a 10 minute yellow card.

Monmouth out-shot Rider 11-8 and the Hawks held a 7-4 penalty corner advantage.

“It's always tough playing Monmouth,” Prettyman added.  “It's a good win.”

“It was a tough game,” Alonso said.  “This is a big rivalry.”

Rider defeated Monmouth on November 1, 2013 in West Long Branch to clinch the inaugural MAAC Regular Season Title.  Rider and Monmouth have played 35 times with the Broncs holding a 25-7-3 advantage in the series that began in 1977. 

Rider is the defending regular season MAAC champion and the Broncs have won five conference regular season titles in a row, dating back to 2009 in the Northeast Conference.

“Opening conference play with Monmouth isn't the easiest,” Hussong said.  “Getting the first MAAC win makes things just a little easier for us as we play the next two MAAC games on the road.  Every game is big.”

Almost 500 fans were in attendance for the Play 4 The Cure game.

“Play 4 The Cure means a lot to me and the team,” Prettyman said.  “We played hard for our team mentor, Rider Director of Publications Cathy (Carter-Romero) who is a breast cancer survivor.  She is always there for us and we wanted to be there for her tonight.  This was a special night for her and we are thankful for all she does.”

“Everyone was playing for Cathy tonight,” Hussong added.  “You see the struggle that she is going through and we see her fighting her hardest.  She is an inspiration to the team and I'm glad we got her the 'W'.”

“Cathy really supports us on and off the field,” Alonso said.  “We are a team with her, she supports us and we support her and we motivate each other.”

After a special night, against a special rival, for a special person, the Broncs travel to Hofstra for a non-conference game on Sunday.

-RU-