Friday, October 27, 2023
Rider Broncs (6-10, 3-3 NEC) vs. LIU Sharks (4-10, 2-4 NEC)
Location:  Lawrenceville, NJ
Time: 7:00 PM
Live Stats:  GoBroncs.com
Broadcast: ESPN+
 
What You Need To Know
- Friday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
- The Broncs were picked to finish tied for second in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll. Rider won the NEC Regular Season Championship and earned the top seed in the NEC Tournament a season ago before defeating Fairfield, 2-1, in overtime to secure the NEC title and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.
- Rider has made the postseason 23-straight years, all under former head coach Lori Hussong, who retired following the 2022 season.
- Replacing Hussong is former Bronc Alicia Govannicci, who played under Hussong from 2010-13. Govannicci was an assistant coach at NEC-rival LIU for the past two seasons. Govannicci earned her first career win in the season opener against Central Michigan.
- The Broncs will qualify for the NEC Tournament with a win and a win by Saint Francis over Sacred Heart or a win by Stonehill over Wagner.
- Of the seven All-Conference performers the Broncs had last season, only Valeria Perales (Madrid, Spain/IES Mirasierra) and Lyric Scott (Union, NJ/Union) return for 2023.
- Perales leads the Broncs this season with seven goals and 17 points.
- Megan Normile (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) currently ranks fourth in the nation with five defensive saves.
- Carlee Fulton (West Chester, PA/West Chester) has gotten the start in goal in all 16 games this season, compiling 63 saves and a 1.90 goals against average.
- Rider's newcomers have supplied a majority of the rest of the offense this season. Carli Ciocco (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East[App State]) scored in both of the Broncs' first two games, earning NEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for her efforts. Willemijn Ephraim (Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Vossius Gymnasium) scored twice in the victory over Central Michigan to take home NEC Rookie of the Week honors. Ephraim is second on the team with six goals and 14 points and Ciocco is third on the squad with four goals.
- Kiera Guckavan (Middletown, PA/Middletown Area) had a goal and five assists in a six-game stretch earning back-to-back NEC Prime Performer honors earlier this month. She and Ephraim each had a goal and an assist in the Broncs 2-0 win over Stonehill.
- The Broncs have done a good job this season of earning corners when getting in the circle, drawing 7.0 corners per game, 18^th in the nation.
- Rider's roster features players from four different countries, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.
- Rider leads the all-time series over LIU 5-1, including a Rider victory in the 2020-21 NEC Championship Game.
- Kiki Bruning leads the LIU offense with three goals and seven points this season.