Broncs season ends in first round of tournament, spirits remain high 

By Kadie DiGiuseppe 

Rider field hockey fell short in its first game of the Northeastern Conference tournament to Fairfield University 2-0, ending its season after qualifying in its win over Wagner College 4-3 in double overtime. The Broncs were the fourth seed in the tournament and finished their season with an 8-10 record.    

Tournament turbulence

On a cool Nov. 6 morning in Fairfield, Connecticut, Rider looked to take down the first-seeded Fairfield Stags, who they had previously lost 7-1 to on Oct. 19. 

The Broncs knew the Stags would be a tough opponent to take on and were met with that reality right as the whistle blew to start the game. 

Fairfield limited Rider to zero shots during the first 15 minutes of play, and while Fairfield attempted three shots and two corners, all were unsuccessful. 

Compared to the October matchup, Fairfield scored two goals in the first quarter. 

However, it was not until the second quarter of the game that Fairfield reached the back of the cage, making the score 1-0 in favor of Fairfield. 

Throughout the rest of the quarter, the Broncs were held shotless, while also limiting the Stags to taking one more shot before halftime. 

In the third quarter, Fairfield came out even more aggressive, and after two unsuccessful shots, one finally made it through and extended their lead to 2-0. 

For the rest of the quarter, the Stags continued making shots on goal, but all of Rider’s attempts up the field never made it to the post, leaving them with no shots to end the third. 

Fairfield ended the dominant performance with four more shots in the fourth while locking down all cranberry offenders, icing the 2-0 loss for Rider and ending their season. 

Throughout the entirety of the game, the Broncs did not take a single shot on goal, while the Stags had 17 different attempts. 

Fairfield also had six corners compared to Rider’s one attempt. Starting sophomore goalie Jade Regnart made five saves during the game. Regnart had 132 saves during the season, almost 40 more saves than her freshman season. 

Looking ahead

The Broncs may have had their season cut short by the Stags, but none of the returning players are hanging their heads. 

“I think [the] game showed us that we are capable as a team of playing at a high level and we are capable of staying with a good team, like Fairfield,” sophomore forward Anna Finn said. 

Though the Broncs could not bring home the NEC tournament title, they did not go home empty handed, with different individuals receiving accolades. 

Senior forward Valeria Perales was named to first team All-NEC with her 13 goals of the season, which she led the team with. 

“I think with us starting off our season with nonconference games, we had a lot of ups and downs, but as the season went on, we were able to fix a lot of mistakes we made,” Perales said. 

Additionally, junior defender Emma Bonshak and senior defender Megan Normile made second team All-NEC. 

Junior defender Kate Mahmud and Normile were also named to the NEC All-Tournament team for their efforts during their game against Fairfield. 

“We’ve had this problem all year. We can get the ball up the field, we just cannot score,” Head Coach Gina Carey-Smith said. 

After expressing her frustrations, Carey-Smith gave the credit to her three seniors for the Broncs’ successes this season.         

“They were great people, but now they’re amazing people,” Carey-Smith said. “They’ve done a lot but it is my hope that our juniors step up.”