College Field Hockey
Rider University 6, Towson University 0

TOWSON, MD—In the season opener on Friday at Lehigh, the Rider University field hockey team had 17 shots but only one goal to show for its effort in a 2-1 loss.

Rider made sure that didn't happen again on Sunday.

Buoyed by three goals in a span of 3:03 toward the end of the opening half, including two goals from freshman Tess Coorens (Leiden, Netherlands), Rider (1-1) defeated the Tigers of Towson University 6-0 at Unitas Stadium.

“We played better than Friday,” said head coach Lori Hussong.  “We made some changes that really helped open up the offense.  We were able to spread things out more and that opened up the attack.  More importantly, we finished and we didn't do that against Lehigh.”

“This was a great bounce back effort after a hard loss the other day,” said Randazzo who earned Second Team All-Conference honors last season as a Rider rookie.  “We all worked hard, kept our heads in the game and cashed in on our opportunities.”

Freshman Voirrey Baker (Ramsey, British Isles) recorded her first collegiate win, playing 51 minutes and shared the shutout with fellow rookies Emily Gilligan (West Deptford) who logged just under 13 minutes and Grace Huff (Oklahoma City, OK/Casady School) who played almost six minutes.

“With the young goalies, our back line takes on that much more importance,” said Hussong.  “Their play also helped spark what we were able to do offensively so we are obviously happy with that.”

Junior Shannon Hughes (South Plainfield) got Rider on the board, 15:34 into the contest beating the Towson goalie up high after a pass in traffic from senior Carlie Spaeder (Newtown Square, PA/Cardinal O'Hara).

Coorens tipped in a shot attempt from freshman Daane Koch (Berkel, Netherlands) after senior Carlota Alsina (Barcelona, Spain/Institut Matadepera) passed the ball in during a penalty corner and she scored her first collegiate goal, giving the Broncs a 2-0 lead with 9:58 remaining in the opening period.

Just 51 seconds later, Spaeder tipped in a shot from Koch after another penalty corner opportunity as Rider opened up a three-goal lead.

Graduate student and former Hofstra veteran Leigh Maxwell-Smith (Vancouver, BC) made her Bronc debut and scored with 4:55 left before intermission, beating the Tiger goalie from the top of the circle after a pass from Alsina to give Rider a 4-0 lead at the break.

Junior Melissa Cunningham (Oaklyn/Collingswood), who recorded two goals against Towson last season, fed a pass to Coorens at the top of the circle during another penalty corner and the resulting goal, gave the Broncs a five-goal margin, just over five minutes into the second half.

Sophomore Jessica Randazzo (Media, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) took a Spaeder pass and scored her second goal of the season with just under six minutes remaining for the final score.

“Scoring in the first two games feels pretty good,” Randazzo added.  “Going from freshman year to being a sophomore, obviously you are playing with a little more confidence.  It's been fun and I'm excited to see what the future holds.”

Rider out-shot Towson 28-2 and the Broncs had a 12-2 penalty corner advantage.

“It's nice to know we have a lot of interchangeable parts,” Hussong added.  “We don't just have to rely on just one player.  That depth is going to be important for us.”

“Having depth has been awesome,” Randazzo said.  “Getting fresh legs into the game without having any drop off in skill level, we were able to keep up the energy level the whole game.”

Rider and Towson have met 20 times with the Broncs now holding a 15-4-1 advantage. 

Trailing 2-1 against the Tigers last season, Rider scored three unanswered goals in the second half for a 4-2 victory on Ben Cohen Field.  The teams met in 2014 in Maryland, with Rider winning 2-1 for head coach Lori Hussong's 200th career victory.  The teams met in Lawrenceville in 2013 when the Broncs won 4-0 in the home opener.

Rider's last six goal game was at Colgate on September 27, 2015 when the Broncs recorded a 6-1 victory.

The last win for the Broncs by at least six goals was September 30, 2012 when Rider defeated Lehigh 8-0.

Rider hosts Georgetown for the 2016 home opener on September 2 at 7pm on Ben Cohen Field.

-RU-