Lawrenceville, NJ – The Rider University field hockey team fell on the road to regional rival Villanova, 3-2, in overtime on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action.

The Broncs (8-8) saw their seven-game winning streak against the Wildcats (6-10) come to an end. The loss was the second for the Broncs in overtime this fall.

Rider opened the scoring just under 10 minutes into the game as freshman Eline De Jong (Groningen, Netherlands/Praedinius Gymnasium) recorded an unassisted tally. De Jong tipped the ball past the Villanova netminder and into the back of the cage for her fifth goal of 2017.

Late in the first half, the hosts broke through to tie the game at one. In the 34th minute, Allison Sayia converted a feed from Ana Sherwood off a penalty corner as the two teams entered halftime knotted at one.

The Broncs took back the lead in the second half as senior Allison Baligian (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) scored her team-leading seventh marker of the season. Baligian gave Rider a 2-1 edge with freshman Brittany Romanczuk (Washington, NJ/Notre Dame) picking up the assist.

The lead was short-lived as Villanova evened things at two just 20 seconds later courtesy of a goal from Francesca Bello.

Twelve and a half minutes into the overtime period, Megan Vermeil scored the game-winner for Villanova off a penalty corner.

In the cage for the Broncs, freshman Lena Vandam (Brasschaat, Belgium) turned aside eight shots in a losing effort.

Notes & Quotes
"Despite the result and losing we were very happy with the progress that we've been making," Rider Head Coach Lori Hussong said. "We are showing improvement and as we learn to fix our mistakes it will give us a better chance to come out on top."

- Rider has now played 11 of its 15 games this year away from home.
-  The Broncs are 4-6 in true road games this year and 5-6 outside of Lawrenceville.
- Rider is 2-7 in one-goal games in 2017.
- The Broncs are 0-2 in overtime this year.
- The Broncs lead the all-time series with Villanova, 12-7-1.
- Villanova held a 24-15 advantage in shots.  
- The Broncs took seven penalty corners compared to 14 for the Wildcats.

Broncs by the Numbers
- The assist was Romanczuk's first of the season and the first of her career.
- Rider freshmen have scored 14 of the team's 35 goals in 2017.
- Melissa Cunningham had a defensive save for the Broncs. It was her second of the season. She has recorded a defensive save in back-to-back games.
- De Jong is tied for second on the team with five goals and she is also second on the squad with 14 points.
- Baligian leads the team with seven goals and 18 points this season.   

Up Next
Rider returns to action on Friday, October 27, with a home non-conference clash against Lock Haven that is slated to begin at 4:30 pm. The last three games between the Broncs and the Bald Eagles have all been decided by one goal. To follow live stats and video for the game visit the field hockey schedule page on GoBroncs.com.