Rider University Athletics

Rider University Field Hockey Head Coach Lori Hussong announced the addition of Gina Carey-Smith to the team's coaching staff in mid-August of 2018. Carey-Smith will join the Broncs as an assistant coach for the 2018 season. She was elevated to Inetrim Head Coach ahead of the 2025 season.

Carey-Smith was on the sidelines in 2024 as the Broncs earned the two-seed in the NEC Tournament. The Broncs were well represented in the major awards with freshman Olivia Machiavelli selected as NEC Offensive Player and Rookie of the Year with senior Lyric Scott being named NEC Midfielder of the Year. Joining the duo on the All-NEC First Team were juniors Valeria Perales and Megan Normile.

"We are thrilled to have Gina join our staff as she has a wealth of knowledge and coaching experience that will prove very valuable to our program," Hussong said. "Her resume speaks for itself. She has a wonderful way of motivating our team to learn and give their best and she echoes all of the same ideas and values that we try to instill in our players.  As a player and a coach she has experienced nothing but success and she is so effective in transferring her winning attitude onto our players. Having her on our sidelines during practices and games is a big bonus as she works so hard to help to cultivate and maintain a winners mentality each time she steps on our field." 

In 2022, Hussong and the Broncs earned both the NEC Regular Season and Tournament Championship, advancing to the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Kaitlyn Tomas was named NEC Defensive Player and Goalie of the Year before being named the NEC Tournament MVP. Indy Zoontjens was selected as NEC Rookie of the Year. Fellow First-Team All-NEC selection Valeria Perales earned Second Team NFHCA All-Region honors after finishing fourth in the country in points per game. Sierra Giuliano was also named First-Team All-NEC. Kiki van Ommeren, Lyric Scott, and Maeve Riehman each earned Second-Team All-NEC honors.

The Broncs fought to the four-seed in the NEC Tournament during the 2021 season. Julia Divorra was named NEC Offensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, leading the post-season honors for the Broncs. Divorra also earned NFHCA All-Region honors and was named to the NFHCA Senior All-Star Team. Joining Divorra on the First-Team All-NEC was forward Carly Brosious, midfielder Tess van Ommeren, and defender Kiki van Ommeren. Sierra Giuliano was a Second-Team All-NEC selection.

Carey-Smith broke into coaching at nearby TCNJ as an assistant coach on the field hockey team from 1992-1994. While at TCNJ she also coached the Lions lacrosse team and helped guide the team to three NCAA Division III National Championships (1994, 2006 and 2007). Following her stint with the TCNJ field hockey program, Carey-Smith was the assistant coach/head JV coach at Florence High School from 1995-1997.

In 1998, Carey-Smith was elevated to Head Coach of the Florence High School field hockey team and she held that position until 2012. During her tenure, the team captured the Central Jersey Group I Championship in 2000. She also guided the squad to Freedom Division Championships in 1998, 2000, 2010 and 2011. Carey-Smith was named the Coach of the Year by the Burlington County Times in 200 and she was also tabbed as the Trenton Times Coach of the Year in 2009.

"It's truly an honor to be given this opportunity to return to coaching alongside Lori and Dan," Smith-Carey said. "I look forward to taking on the challenge of helping to bring this program back to the top. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of a program that stresses the values and ideals that cultivate  a family atmosphere, where hard work and intensity are rewarded and where winning is an expectation. Lori and Dan are winners on and off the field and work so hard to instill passion, character, determination and great pride within their team. I firmly believe that if you surround yourself with good people who have big hearts that  great things will happen in life and I truly feel that this year's team has all the ingredients to have a very special season."

Carey-Smith graduated from TCNJ in 1993 after a stellar playing career in both field hockey and lacrosse. She started her collegiate career at The Ohio State University in 1988 as a starter for the varsity field hockey team. After transferring to TCNJ as a sophomore, she was a three-year starter and as a senior she became the first Division III player to earn the Honda Broderick Award as the Best Field Hockey Player in the Nation.

Her TCNJ teams finished as the National runner-up in 1989 and followed that up with back-to-back National Championships in 1990 and 1991. Smith-Carey was a three-time NCAA Division III All-Tournament Team honoree, a three-time NJAC All-Star selection and a two-time First Team All-American. In 1991, she was honored as the NJAC Midfielder of the Year, the NJAC Female of the Year and was on the United States Olympic National Festival Team.

In her career, she scored 43 goals and added 30 assists. Amongst her tallies was the game-winning marker in the 1991 National Championship.

Smith-Carey earned her Master's Degree in Health Education from TCNJ in 1997. Since 2012, she has worked as an adjunct professor in the Health and Exercise Department at her alma mater.

She currently resides in Florence, NJ with her husband, Jeffrey Smith, and has two children, Alexis C. Smith, Attorney at Parker McCay, and Jeffrey Smith Jr, who is a High School Teacher/Coach.

In the 2020-21 season, the Broncs won both the NEC Regular Season and Tournament titles, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Six players earned All-NEC honors, led by NEC Player of the Year and NEC Offensive Player of the Year Julia Divorra. Divorra would go on to earn NFHCA First-Team All-Region honors. Tess van Ommeren also earned All-Region honors after being named to the second team. Carey-Smith and the rest of the staff capped the season by being named the NFHCA Mid-Atlantic Coaching Staff of the Year.

In 2019, Rider went 13-7 and earned the No. 2 seed in the NEC Field Hockey Tournament thanks to posting a mark of 5-1 in conference action. The Bronc defense posted three shutouts during and Hussong saw five players earn All-NEC honors. Julia Divorra was tabbed as the NEC Offensive Player. Divorra, Carly Brosious, Tess Coorens and Tess van Ommeren all earned First Team All-NEC honors, while Kaitlyn Flemming landed on the All-NEC Second Team. For their play in the NEC Tournament, Tess van Ommeren, Lena Vandam and Brittany Romanczuk were named to the NEC All-Tournament Team. 

Rider advanced to their 12th NEC Championship Game after blanking LIU, 3-0, in the NEC Semifinals. 

In 2018, Rider went 11-8 and qualified for the MAAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed thanks to posting a 4-1 mark in league play. The Bronc defense posted four shutouts during the year. Rider saw sophomore Lena Vandam tabbed as the MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year for the second year in a row. Vandam, freshman Carly Brosious and junior Tess Coorens all earned First Team All-MAAC honors, while freshman Tess van Ommeren, senior Jessica Randazzo and sophomore Kaitlyn Flemming all earned Second Team All-MAAC distinction. For their play at the MAAC Tournament, both Vandam and senior Alison Amen were named to the MAAC All-Championship Team. 

During the regular season in 2018, Rider had the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week five times, the MAAC Rookie of the Week three times and one player recognized as the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week. The Broncs had freshman Carly Brosious named the Synapse Sports Division I National Rookie of the Week, Tess Coorens was once named to the Synapse Sports Division I Weekly Honor Roll and Lena Vandam was once named to the Longsteth/NFHCA Division I Weekly Honor Roll.