Friday, October 6, 2023 / Sunday, October 8, 2023
Rider Broncs (4-6, 1-0 NEC) vs. Saint Francis Red Flash (6-5, 1-0 NEC) / Stonehill Skyhawks (1-9, 0-1 NEC)
Location:  Lawrenceville, NJ
Time: 4:00 PM/Noon
Live Stats:  GoBroncs.com
Broadcast: ESPN+ - Friday/Sunday
 
What You Need To Know
- The Broncs host a pair of games at Ben Cohen Field, both streaming on ESPN+.
- Sunday's game will be Senior Day, as it is the final home weekend contest of the season. The Broncs will honor outgoing seniors Kiera Guckavan (Middletown, PA/Middletown Area) and Carlee Fulton (West Chester, PA/West Chester) along with graduate student Carli Ciocco (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East[App State]).
- 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.
- 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 also earned Second-Team All-Mid Atlantic Region honors after putting together one of the best seasons in program history as a freshman, scoring 20 goals and 49 points, one off the program record in both categories.
- Megan Normile (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) currently ranks second in the nation with five defensive saves.
- Fulton has gotten the start in goal in all eight games this season, compiling 35 saves and a 1.83 goals against average.
- Rider's newcomers have supplied a majority of the offense this season. Ciocco 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. Ciocco currently leads the Broncs with four goals and eight points.
- The Broncs have done a good job this season of earning corners when getting in the circle, drawing 7.3 corners per game.
- Rider's roster features players from four different countries, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.
- Rider leads the all-time series over Saint Francis 21-3, but the Red Flash were the lone NEC team to defeat the Broncs in 2022. The Broncs rebounded to defeat Saint Francis 2-0 in the NEC Tournament behind goals from Perales and Semra Said (Mannheim, Germany/Feudenheim Gymnasium Mannheim).
- Rider won the first-ever meeting between the programs last season in Stonehill's first year from reclassifying from Division II. Guckavan scored her first career goal in that victory.
- Saint Francis is 6-5 this season and defeated Wagner in its NEC opener. The Red Flash have played six one-goal games this season. First-Team All-NEC defender Eva Valentini is tied for the team lead with 10 points on four goals and two assists.
- Stonehill is 1-9 this season, falling 5-1 to Fairfield to open NEC play. The Skyhawks are led offensively by Raegan Hickey, who has scored seven of the team's 12 goals.