Lawrenceville, NJ – Freshman Kaitlyn Flemming (Bellmawr, NJ/Triton Regional High School) scored two goals to lead the Rider University field hockey team past visiting LIU Brooklyn, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at Ben Cohen Field in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play.

The Broncs (6-6, 1-1 MAAC) bounced back from their first home loss of the season on Thursday with the victory, while the Blackbirds (1-11, 1-1 MAAC) suffered their first conference loss of the season.

Rider opened the scoring less than seven minutes into play as senior Shannon Hughes (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) netted her second goal of the season. Her tally came as a result of a penalty corner as she finished off a rebound in front of the cage.

The hosts stretched their lead to two five minutes later courtesy of a Flemming's first strike of the day off a feed from Kesheal Henderson (Heath, MA.Mohawk Regional).

LIU would get on the board late in the first half thanks to a marker from Gillian Vallaster. Vallaster's goal capped the scoring in the first half as the Broncs took a 2-1 edge into the break.

Henderson gave the Broncs a two-goal edge once again 13 minutes into the second half. She netted her first goal of the season off a shot in the circle to make it 3-1 in favor of the hosts.

Flemming struck again in the 52nd minute as she netted her second goal of the game off a long pass from junior Jessica Randazzo (Media, PA/Cardinal O'Hara). The tally capped the scoring in the contest.

In the cage for the Broncs, freshman Lena Vandam (Brasschaat, Belgium) turned aside one shot in 65 minutes of play to earn her sixth victory of the season.

Notes & Quotes
"This was a really important game for us we needed to get a win to get us back going in the right direction," Rider Head Coach Lori Hussong said. I'm really happy that we came out on top today."

"It was good to see Kaitlyn get back into the scoring column today," Hussong added. "She gives us a boost and energy that team responds too."

"We know we have our backs to the wall so there is very little room for error at this point," Hussong said. "We just need to focus this week and work hard to put a plan together for Siena and Fairfield next Friday and Sunday."

- Rider is now 2-1 at home in 2017.
- Rider has now played nine of its first 12 games this year away from home.
- The Broncs lead the all-time series, 2-0, after topping LIU, 9-0 last autumn.
- Rider held an 18-3 advantage in shots.
- The Broncs had 9 shots on goal, while LIU Brooklyn had two.
- The Broncs took 11 penalty corners compared to two for the Blackbirds.
- Rider has surrendered just one goal in each of their first two MAAC games in 2017.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider is now outscoring their opponents, 15-6, in the second half this year.
- The multi-goal game was the second of the season for Flemming and her first against a conference foe. Both of her two-goal games this autumn have come at home.
- Flemming is third on the team with 10 points (5 goals).
- Hughes is now second on the team with 12 points (2 goals, 6 assists). She leads the team with six assists.  Hughes has now recorded points in back-to-back games.
- Henderson's  goal was her first of the season and the third of her career. The assist was her third of the fall which is a new career high as she had just two helpers over her first three seasons with the team.
-  Randazzo's assist was her first of the season.   
- Freshman goalkeeper Gillian Gunn saw her second of the action in the season for Rider. She played the final four and a half minutes in the cage.

Up Next
Rider returns to action on Friday, October 13, with a road MAAC contest against Siena that is slated to begin at 3:00 pm. The Broncs have won back-to-back games versus the Saints, blanking Siena in each of the last two seasons. To follow live stats and video for the game visit the field hockey schedule page on GoBroncs.com.