Friday, April 30, 2021
NCAA Championship First Round
Rider Broncs (6-1) vs. #7 Connecticut Huskies (11-1)
Location: University Park, PA – Penn State Field Hockey Complex
Tip: 3:00 p.m.
Live Video – NCAA.com
Live Stats – NCAA.com
Tournament Central – GoPSUSports.com
 
What You Need To Know
- The Broncs punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament this season with a 5-1 regular season and a convincing, 5-0 win over second-seeded LIU in the Northeast Conference Championship Game.
- Tess van Ommeren and Julia Divorra each scored twice and added two assists in the NEC Championship Game. van Ommeren scored both of her goals off blasts from the top of the circle off penalty corners and was named NEC Championship MVP. Divorra joined her on the All-Championship Team.
- Divorra leads the Broncs with eight goals, five assists and 21 points. She earned NEC Player and Offensive Player of the Year a year after taking the latter honor.
- Joining Divorra on the All-NEC Team were First-Team selections van Ommeren, Carly Brosious and Brittany Romanczuk, as well as Second Teamers Sierra Giuliano and Kaitlyn Flemming.
- For her team's success this season, Lori Hussong was named NEC Coach of the Year, her sixth career conference Coach of the Year honor and her first since 2013.
- Now in her 21^st season as Rider Head Coach, Hussong has posted a 268-136 career record, ranking her in the Top 10 nationally among active Division I coaches with a .663 winning percentage.
- Rider makes its seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament in Head Coach Lori Hussong's 21 years at the helm.
- The appearance is Rider's first since 2012, when the Broncs lost in overtime in the play-in game to Massachusetts.
- Rider is making its first appearance in the main draw of the tournament after six play-in games. Friday's game marks the first NCAA contest Rider will play as a non-road team, as the first six were all played on the Broncs' opponent's home field.   
- Connecticut won its ninth-straight Big East Championship to earn an automatic bid into the tournament this year. The five-time NCAA Champion Huskies have won National Titles in 1981, 1985, 2013, 2014 and 2017. Connecticut enters NCAA Tournament play on a seven-game winning streak and with an 11-1 overall record. The Broncs and Huskies have never met in field hockey.