Friday, September 29, 2023 / Sunday, October 1, 2023
Rider Broncs (2-6) vs. Merrimack Warriors (0-8) / Lock Haven Bald Eagles (2-6)
Location: North Andover, MA/Lawrenceville, NJ
Time: 2:00 PM/Noon
Live Stats: MerrimackAthletics.com/GoBroncs.com
Broadcast: NEC Front Row/BroncVision
 
What You Need To Know
- The Broncs open NEC play at Merrimack on Friday before returning home to take on Lock Haven on Sunday.
- Sunday's game will be the Broncs' annual Play4Cathy game in honor of former Director of Creative Services at Rider, Cathy Carter-Romero.
- 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.
- Other key returners in the field include Kiera Guckavan (Middletown, PA/Middletown Area), Semra Said (Mannheim, Germany/Feudenheim Gymnasium Mannheim), Megan Normile (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt), Alyssa Hoffmann (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley), and Brynne Miller (Blue Bell, PA/Wissahickon).
- Normile currently leads the nation with five defensive saves.
- With the departure of NEC Goalie and Defensive Player of the Year, Kaitlyn Tomas, the Broncs will turn to a new starting net minder. Carlee Fulton (West Chester, PA/West Chester) has gotten the start in all eight games this season, compiling 34 saves and a 2.17 goals against average.
- Rider's newcomers have supplied a majority 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. Ciocco currently leads the Broncs with three goals and six points.
- The Broncs have done a good job this season of earning corners when getting in the circle, drawing 6.9 corners per game.
- Rider's roster features players from four different countries, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and the United States.
- Rider has won all four all-time meetings with the Warriors including a 6-0 win at Ben Cohen Field last season.
- Lock Haven leads the all-time series 13-6 over the Broncs, but each of the last eight meetings have been one-goal games including last season when the Bald Eagles scored with just eight seconds remaining to earn the win.
- Merrimack is 0-8 this season, scoring one or zero goals in seven of their eight games.
- Lock Haven is 2-6 this season (entering Friday), including a 2-1 setback at fellow NEC Rival Saint Francis. Constanza Lopez Zabala leads the Bald Eagles with five goals and 11 points.