Box Score College Field Hockey
Rider University 9, LIU Brooklyn 0
BROOKLYN, NY— Rider junior Allison Baligian needs to get fitted for a new hat. And not because she has more confidence these days.
Baligian (Flemington/Hunterdon Central) scored three goals and senior Kalyn O'Brien (Southampton, NJ/Seneca) scored twice to lead Rider to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win at LIU Brooklyn Thursday night.
It was Baligian's first career hat trick. “It was great to see her have a big game and she should gain some confidence from this,” said Rider head coach Lori Hussong.
Baligian scored in the 29th minute of play on an assist from freshman Daane Koch (The Netherlands) to give Rider a 3-0 lead. Koch had three assists in the game. “Daane played really well,” Hussong said. “Her passing was right on. Her play was big in helping us get the ball in the offensive end. She made some great scoring passes.”
Baligian scored again to give Rider a 4-0 lead and again to give Rider a 6-0 lead. The third goal was Baligian's 27th career goal.
O'Brien scored to give Rider a 2-0 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. O'Brien scored again on an assist from junior Melissa Cunningham (Oaklyn/Collingswood) on a corner for a 5-0 Rider lead. It was O'Brien's fourth goal of the season.
Cunningham had two assists in the game.
Senior Carlie Spaeder (Newtown Square, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) scored in the seventh minute of play to give Rider a 1-0 lead. It was Spaeder's seventh goal of the season and her 24th career goal.
Senior Carlota Alsina (Barcelona, Spain) scored her 15th career goal to give Rider a 7-0 lead.
Junior forward Lauren Bock (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Boro) scored to make it 8-0.
Freshman Alice Otterson (Stratford, New Zealand) scored her first career goal in the final minute of play for a 9-0 lead.
Rider (9-7, 3-2 MAAC) out-shot LIU (0-12, 0-4 MAAC) 31-4, including 18-1 in shots on goal. “They actually played pretty tough,” Hussong said.
This is the first year LIU has sponsored field hockey as a varsity sport. “They are all freshmen on their team so we knew they would be a bit inexperienced,” Hussong said.
The Broncs play a non-conference game at Cornell Sunday. “It will be great competition for us, which is what we need to prepare for the rest of conference play,” Hussong said. “It is must win situation for us the rest of the conference schedule. Cornell is very good. Any time you play an Ivy League team you just hope you can compete with them.”
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