Washington, DC – Freshman Eline De Jong (Groningen, Netherlands/Praedinius Gymnasium) scored two goals and senior tri-captain Allison Baligian (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) chipped in a goal and an assist to lead the Rider University field hockey team past Davidson, 5-1, at the William I Jacobs Recreational Complex on the campus of American University on Sunday afternoon.

De Jong was strong in her collegiate debut and wasted little time making an impact with the first goal of the season for the Broncs just under six minutes into play. De Jong dribbled past the Wildcat defender marking her and fired a shot that hit the back of the cage.

Late in the first half, Rider stretched its lead to 3-1 courtesy of an unassisted strike from Baligian. The tally was her first of the season and gave the Broncs some breathing room heading into the break.

In the second half, Rider pulled away with a pair of goals eight minutes apart.

In net for the Broncs, freshman Lena Vandam (Brasschaat, Belgium) made three saves in 62 minutes of action to earn the first win of her career.

Notes & Quotes
"We are obviously very happy with our performance today," Rider Head Coach Lori Hussong said. "We had outstanding play from several newcomers in Maria Madsen, Eline De Jong and Lena Vandam. We also had tremendous performances from Allison Baligian, Alison Amen, Melissa Cunningham, Jessica Randazzo and Alice Otterson. It's always great to start the season with a good team win and we couldn't be more proud of the second effort that was given by every player on the field."

- Rider is now 9-9 in season openers under Hussong. The team has also won four of their five season openers.
- The Broncs are now 2-2 all-time against Davidson, having avenged a 2-1 setback to the Wildcats in September of the 2014 campaign.
- In total, 10 Broncs made their debut versus the Wildcats.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Graduate transfer Maria Madsen had two assists for the Broncs.
- Baligian, a Preseason All-MAAC honoree, now has 29 career goals and 60 points.  
- Melissa Cunningham scored the other Bronc tally on the day on a penalty corner of a feed from Madsen.

Up Next
Rider returns to the nation's capital to square off with Georgetown on Friday, September 1, at 2:00 pm. Last year, the Broncs topped the Hoyas, 6-0, in Lawrenceville in early September.  To follow live stats during the game, check out the field hockey schedule page on GoBroncs.com.