LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Paced by
Julia Divorra's (Terrassa, Spain/Vedruna Vall) first-quarter hat trick, the Rider University field hockey team coasted to a 7-0 win over Merrimack Monday afternoon on Ben Cohen Field. With the win, the Broncs improve to 2-0 (2-0 NEC) on the year, while Merrimack falls to 0-2 (0-1 NEC).
Divorra got the Broncs on the board at the 4:41 mark, knocking in the rebound of
Carly Brosious' (Drexel Hill, PA/Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast) shot. Just over two minutes later, she struck again with a backhand shot from the top, right of the circle from
Kat Conroy (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional).
Brittany Romanczuk (Washington, NJ/Notre Dame) finished from 10 yards out just over 11 minutes into the game, before Divora completed her hat trick at 13:27 off a Romanczuk assist on a penalty corner.
The rout continued with Brosious' goal, knocking in the rebound of a
Sierra Giuliano (Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional) shot just over 20 minutes into the game.
Exactly five minutes into the third quarter, Romanczuk converted a penalty stroke to make it 6-0, before
Mia Frontino (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) scored off Giuliano's cross at 44:24.
Quotes & Notes
"It was a much better game today than we played at LIU. The first-game jitters from LIU were out. It was a home game and their parents were here for the first time. They hadn't seen them in a long time. Overall, we were very happy with their performance. There was a good connections and lots beautiful goals being scored. Team defense was good, so a good game for us." –
Rider Head Coach Lori Hussong
- Three Rider goalies all saw action.
Kaitlyn Tomas (Campbellville, Ontario/Appleby College) made her second-straight start and made two saves.
Gillian Gunn (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) and
Carlee Fulton (West Chester, PA/West Chester East) also entered in the second half.
- Gunn was making her first appearance since 2017, while the freshman Fulton made her Rider debut.
- Also making her Rider debut was freshman
Kiera Guckavan (Middletown, PA/Middletown Area).
- Seeing game action for just the second time, Frontino scored her first collegiate goal.
Broncs By The Numbers
- Divorra recorded her second-career hat trick (Sept. 15, 2019 vs. Colgate)
- Romanczuk matched her single-season high of two goals and one assist (2017) with her two-goal, one-assist performance today.
- Brosious scored for the second-straight game and now has two goals and an assist on the season.
- Giuliano now has a team-high three assists with two today and one last time out at LIU.
- The Broncs outshot the Warriors, 27-3, including a 16-2 margin in shots on goal.
- Rider took seven penalty corners to Merrimack's three.
