LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University field hockey team won its third-straight game Friday afternoon, defeating Fairfield 1-0 on Ben Cohen Field. The Broncs improve to 5-3 overall with the victory and 2-0 in NEC play, while the Stags fall to 2-5 overall, and 0-1 in NEC games.
 
The Broncs opened the scoring midway though the first quarter. Olivia Machiavelli (Madrid, Spain/International School Sek el Castillo) made the insert on the corner, but the ball went beyond the stick stop where Emma Bonshak (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) made a pass back into the circle and on to the stick of Anna Finn (Windsor, NY/Windsor Central). Finn played the ball to the front of the cage, where she found Katie Wuerstle (Schwenksville, PA/Perkiomen Valley[Kent St.]). Wuerstle turned and fired, where the Stag goalie got a piece of the shot, but the shot had enough on it that it still found its way to the back of the cage, giving Rider the lead.
 
After a mostly uneventful second quarter sent the game into the half with Rider leading 1-0, things heated up quickly in the third. Just over a minute into the quarter, Rider got a look off another penalty corner, but a Fairfield save kept the lead at one. The Stags that took control of the game and had the Broncs on the back foot, but the Rider defense refused to allow an equalizer. After multiple corners and four saves in quick succession, Fairfield was eventually awarded a penalty stroke. Jade Regnart (Cape Town, South Africa/Fairmont) took her stance in the cage and blockered away the stroke to keep the Stags off the scoreboard.
 
The Broncs held strong in the fourth, including a key save by Regnart with just over a minute remaining and the Broncs playing down a player, holding on to preserve the shutout and the victory.

Quotes & Notes
"The team played really well. They followed the game plan. We need to clean up our defense a little bit, but overall we're really proud of them for coming together, playing man down again, and still making it work."
 
"We're a pretty young team, so they're growing back there. We have a lot of young players on defense that are getting better and better each game." – Head Coach Alicia Govannicci
 
"In practices, we focus on coming out strong and coming out as a team all together. We just executed that, and I was at the right place at the right time. I knew it was going to be tough, but we did what we had to do." – Graduate Student forward Katie Wuerstle
 
"Today was 100% effort. It was whatever team wanted it more. They're a phenomenal team, and they were very strong, so we knew that we had to stay together. We were down numbers at a certain point, corners back-to-back, defensive corners, and every time it was let's just handle this one and everything else with flow." – Senior midfielder Lyric Scott
 
"One-zero, it's so, so close. It's very thrilling. We work really hard defensively and every save matters, and you have to do it for the team. You take one save at a time. This was a huge game, and that's what motivates and the team." – Freshman goalie Jade Regnart
 
- Rider extends its lead in the all-time series to 20-12.
- Regnart got the start in net, playing all 60 minutes and making eight saves to earn the win.
- Ang Borisow (Harleysville, PA/Souderton), Kate Mahmud (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown West), Semra Said (Mannheim, Germany/Feudenheim Gymnasium Mannheim), Megan Normile (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt), Lyric Scott (Union, NJ/Union), Machiavelli, Finn, Bonshak, and Wuerstle all played all 60 minutes in the field.
- Wuerstle's goal is her second of the season.

Broncs By The Numbers
- Fairfield outshot Rider 14-6, including an 8-5 edge in shots on goal.
- The Stags earned 11 corners in the game to just six for the Broncs.
 
Up Next
- The Broncs return to play Sunday with a trip to Drexel for a noon start.