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Somerset, NJ – Rider’s remarkable run resulted in a trio of Broncs receiving major individual awards at the Northeast Conference’s pre-championship field hockey banquet.
The Broncs remained perfect in NEC regular season play for the third consecutive year and the women who helped make it possible took center stage at the awards dinner with one of them making league history in the process.
Rider senior midfielder Virginia Egusquiza (Getxo, Spain) became the first student-athlete in the conference’s field hockey history to win the NEC Player of the Year honor in each of three consecutive seasons. Fellow Spaniard Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain) joined Egusquiza at the podium to accept the NEC Offensive Player of the Year award. Meanwhile, Rider’s Lori Hussong took home the NEC Coach of the Year accolade for the second time in the last three seasons.
Sacred Heart senior Kim Stow (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) made it back-to-back NEC Goalkeeper of the Year awards, while the NEC Rookie of the Year title went to Bryant’s freshman forward Rosie Bird (Hamilton, New Zealand).
Overall, Rider saw four of its players receive individual recognition prior to the presentation of the NEC regular season trophy.
Monmouth placed a conference-high six players onto the two All-NEC Teams, which were also unveiled at the pre-championship banquet held on the eve of the 2011 NEC Field Hockey Tournament. The annual four-team Tournament begins Friday, November 4 with a pair of semifinal matches and concludes on Saturday, November 5 with the 2011 NEC Championship Game, the winner of which will face the Ivy League champion in a NCAA Tournament Play-in.
Seven of the NEC’s eight field hockey members garnered at least one all-NEC selection. Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, and Sacred Heart each accounted for three honorees apiece. Bryant saw a pair of Bulldogs earn all-league accolades. Saint Francis (PA), which will qualified for the postseason for the second time in program history, had one student-athlete honored.
Egusquiza officially cemented her legacy as one of the all-time greats, arguably the greatest, NEC field hockey has ever seen. The senior from Spain became only the second woman in league history to garner all-NEC first team status during each of her four years of competition. Lock Haven alumnae Blair Wynne is the only other four-time all-NEC first team selection since the league elevated field hockey to championship sport status in 1998. Wynne is also the lone other three-time NEC Player of the Year, but only Egusquiza can claim to have won the award over three consecutive seasons.
Egusquiza, who claimed the 2008 NEC Rookie of the Year honor, made an immediate impact in Lawrenceville upon arriving from Spain as a top recruit. On her way to becoming the all-time leading scorer in Rider annals, she scored 19 points on seven goals and five assists, all highs amongst NEC freshmen that season, as a rookie. With her single-season point total increasing year-by-year, Egusquiza had her best season yet in 2011. Combining “a top-flight skill set” along with “spectacular field vision and awareness,” in the words of her coaching staff, the star midfielder totaled 49 points to win the conference regular season scoring title for the second year in a row. Her 16 goals, six of which proved to be game-winning tallies, in 18 games ranked third amongst league leaders. Egusquiza set up another 17 goals, tying teammate Marlaine Schneider (Feasterville, PA/Neshaminy) for a conference high in assists. Rider’s center-mid won the NEC Player of the Week award on four occasions during her senior season and will look to close out her collegiate career by helping Rider to a second consecutive NEC Tournament crown. Whether or not she adds to the totals this during postseason play, Egusquiza’s 149 points and 61 assists both rank No. 1 in program annals.
If Penas has hopes of joining Wynne and Egusquiza as an eventual four-time all-NEC first teamer, then she is halfway there. Two years after Egusquiza burst onto the scene, Penas made the trip across the pond to play at Rider and has had nothing but success since. Following up the 2010 NEC Rookie of the Year award with the 2011 NEC Offensive Player of the Year honor, the second-year Bronc scored a league-leading 20 goals. The sophomore forward, who possesses both “finesse and a wicked shot,” was a nightmare for opposing defenses to handle. She fired over nine shots per game on average. Her 163 shots in 18 games topped the conference’s individual leader board. More specifically, Penas’ 111 shots on goal were more than the NEC’s second-ranked individual in terms of overall shots (Egusquiza – 105). Also tallying eight assists on the season, Penas (48 points) was the runner-up in the race for the NEC’s scoring title.
Cunniff wrestled the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award away from Merritt Parkway rival Sacred Heart and became the first Bobcat ever to claim the honor. A first team selection in the midfield during her junior season, Cunniff was as equally effective this year as a back. Quinnipiac head coach Becca Main Kohli said the senior sweeper is “…one of the best player’s I’ve ever coached.” The Walpole, MA product brought experience to a back line that held the opposition to six goals over the span of five NEC victories. She provided plenty of punch in the offensive end, too, giving the Bobcats a dangerous option on penalty corner plays. Cunniff (32 points) was the NEC’s sixth-leading scorer in the regular season. Her 14 goals tied for fifth in the conference. Four of those tallies came in back-to-back non-conference victories. On her way to earning NEC Player of the Week, Cunniff accounted for all three of Quinnipiac’s goals, including the game-winner as time expired, in a 3-2 triumph over Patriot League member Lehigh. She then logged a goal and an assist in a win over Ivy Leaguer Harvard.
Stow captured the NEC Goalkeeper of the Year award for the second consecutive season. The Constitution State product started all 18 games for the Pioneers between the pipes and was especially good in her seven conference starts. Stow logged an .822 save percentage and a 2.29 goals-against average against NEC foes. Two of her three victories in league play came via shutout.
Bird took a long flight from New Zealand to Smithfield, RI, but the freshman “adjusted really well” to her foreign surroundings according to Bryant head coach Shaunessy Saucier. If one needs more evidence her coach’s comments, one needs to only look at the stats. Fitting right in, Bird was the Bulldogs’ team leader in points (29), goals (14), shots (89), and shots on goal (58). Her 14 tallies were tops amongst NEC freshmen and tied for fifth on the overall leader board. According to Saucier, Bird has an “amazing shot” and “If she wasn’t such a good goal scorer, we would have used her in the midfield as well.”
Hussong has Rider on a remarkable run. The Broncs are 22-0 in NEC regular season play over the past three campaigns. They head into the NEC Tournament on the heels of the program’s sixth regular season crown in the past decade, all won under Hussong’s watch. The 12th-year head coach now has four NEC Coach of the Year awards (2003, 2005, 2009, 2011) on her mantle and owns an all-time 81-18 record against league opponents.
A pair of Monmouth Hawks occupy the other two forward spots on the first team alongside Rider’s Penas. Junior Michelle Pieczynski (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West) and sophomore Trish O’Dwyer (Dublin, Ireland) spearheaded what was one of the NEC’s top-three ranked attacks for the third consecutive season. Both the former and latter found the back of the cage eight times during NEC play, tying for the lead league.
Monmouth head coach Carly Figlio labeled Pieczynski as “the heartbeat of our front line.” Referred to as the Hawks’ “most-dangerous and most-consistent attacker,” Pieczynski scored 19 goals, a number second only to Penas’ 20, in 19 games this year. The Keystone State product, who logged six assists as well, was the highest non-Rider point getter in the conference. Her 44 points were fourth behind a trio of Broncs.
According to Figlio, O’Dwyer “blossomed in conference play – at both ends of the field.” Her goal numbers certainly support the assertion she improved in the offensive end once league play rolled around. The sophomore from Ireland scored six goals in 11 non-conference games, and more than doubled that total over the course of a seven-game league schedule. Her 14 tallies and eight assists gave her the fifth-highest (36) point total on the NEC leader board. Playing her best hockey down the regular season stretch run, O’Dwyer won two of the final three NEC Player of the Week awards.
It’s an all-senior all-NEC first team midfield as Bryant’s Katherine Andrusin (North Andover, MA/North Andover) and Quinnipiac’s Megan McCreedy (White River, South Africa) joined Egusquiza in comprising the unit. After missing the entire 2010 season, McCreedy bounced back and regained the first team status she held in 2009. Meanwhile, Andrusin made the leap up to the first team after garnering a second team honor as a junior.
McCreedy, one of four international students on the first team, has produced the second-highest single-season assist total (13) in Quinnipiac history this fall. The native of South Africa scored three of her four goals in NEC play while making the most of the few shots she took (13 shots in 7 NEC games). Andrusin is a key reason why the Bulldogs have been able to win 24 games over their first seasons as a Division I member. The 5-foot-2 midfielder has not missed a single game in her four-year career and tallied 11 points on three goals and five assists in 18 starts this season. Helping Bryant break into the win column back in September, she provided what held up as the game-winner against Georgetown and scored another goal three days later in a win over Pacific.
Four different programs are represented in the all-NEC first team backfield, three of whom will contest the NEC Tournament this weekend. Monmouth sophomore Alex Carroll (Oceanport, NJ/Shore) and Saint Francis (PA) freshman Carissa Makea (Auckland, New Zealand) were honored alongside Cunniff at the pre-championship banquet. Sacred Heart Nikki Kimbrowicz (Biddeford, ME/Biddeford), whose team saw its postseason hopes fade away in its regular season finale, was named as the fourth defender on the first team.
Makea is the lone freshman to achieve first team status this year. Saint Francis (PA) head coach Stacey Bean called the defender the team’s “most-impactful rookie” and that is quite the compliment considering the Flash also featured a freshman forward who scored 12 goals. Helping spark the Red Flash’s resurgence, Makea anchored a defense that surrendered fewer than two goals per game in league play. All three of the Flash’s NEC victories came via shutout and even the high-powered Broncs managed to score just twice against the Makea-led unit. The rookie back, who made log a pair of defensive saves in non-league play, also scored six goals, four of which came against conference foes.
Figlio called Carroll “the organizer back there” for a defense that permitted the second-fewest goals in the conference. Opponents scored only 34 times in 19 games against the Hawks. Tabbed “the backbone of our defense,” the Jersey Shore product, who went to high school only a few miles away from Monmouth’s campus, added a pair of defensive saves and a game winning goal to her resume this fall. Caroll totaled seven goals and dished out six assists in her second collegiate season.
Kimborowicz started 16 games for a backline that protected NEC Goalkeeper of the Year Kim Stow. SHU head coach Chris Blais called the junior defender from Maine “a skilled player out of the backfield.” Kimborowicz recorded a team-high three defensive saves to go along with a pair of goals and four assists. The Pioneers posted two shutouts during the conference schedule.
NEC Rookie of the Year Rosie Bird (Bryant) headlines an 11-member All-NEC Second Team that features three Robert Morris Colonials along with a trio of Monmouth Hawks.
Olivia Netzler’s Colonials accounted for the most successful season in program history thanks to a phenomenal rookie class that included some of the top talent from Netzler’s native Australia. Three of the Aussie freshmen who helped Robert Morris to a single-season program record eight victories have earned all-NEC status. Midfielder Jamie Hartley (Tamworth, Australia) was the offensive catalyst. “Skill-wise the best player we’ve ever had here [at Robert Morris],” according to Netzler, Hartley totaled 21 points on a team-leading eight goals and five assists but her contribution did not stop there. “I can’t say enough about what’s Jamie’s done for our team. She took over the captain’s role as a rookie,” noted Netzler.
While Hartley was busy creating offense, defender Michelle Lewthwaite (Macarthur, Australia) and goalkeeper Erin McKenzie (Lismore, Australia) helped the Colonials to the fourth-lowest goals-against average (2.45) in the NEC, a huge improvement over the prior season when they allowed 3.21 goals per contest. As the team’s center-mid, Lewthwaite directed an all-rookie back line and played the right post on defensive penalty corners. Although she’s known for her defense, her biggest moment of the season came in the offensive end where she tallied the overtime game-winner in a 1-0 blanking of then-No. 15 Ohio. She had 12 points of three goals and six assists. With Lewthaite solidifying the defense in front of her, McKenzie played to a 2.33 goals-against average this season. Her seven victories included a pair of shutouts.
Monmouth finished as the NEC regular season runner-up for the second year in a row and its two all-NEC second team midfielders and one defender were a key part of that equation. Fifth-year senior Morganne Firmstone (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale), who was a first team selection last year, once again performed at an all-NEC level. Bring strong defensive play to the midfield, Firmstone gave the Hawks a veteran leader as well as someone who is occasionally dangerous on the attack. She took only 13 shots the entire season, but scored four goals and logged six assists. Junior Nicole Manziano (Monroe Twp., NJ/Monroe) played alongside Firmstone, giving Monmouth one of the league’s top defensive units. On her way to a second straight second team all-NEC honor, Manziano made an unbelievable 11 defensive saves and sits atop the NCAA national leader board in that category. The Hawks were missing an all-NEC defender due to the graduation of Nora Bosmans, but sophomore Ali Askinas (West Chester, PA/Henderson) stepped up to the challenge. She started all 19 games for the Hawks and has a pair of defensive saves to her credit.
Rider placed a pair on the All-NEC Second Team – one up front and the other in the midfield. The Broncs’ coaching staff described junior forward Marlaine Schneider (Feasterville, PA/Neshaminy) as a “workhorse who brings great effort and determination to the game.” Schneider, the 2009 NEC Rookie of the Year, also has a habit of putting her teammates in a prime position to score. Her 17 assists tie her three-time NEC Player of the Year teammate for first in the league. Schneider is quite capable of scoring on her own as well, tallying 15 goals (4th in NEC) and finishing the regular season with the third-most points (47) in the conference. While Schneider stands at 5-foot-6, sophomore midfielder Alicia Govannicci (Springfield, PA/Cardinal O’Hara) is the shortest player in the league at 5-feet. Small in physical stature, the second-year Bronc “plays big.” The blazing-fast midfielder, who is usually all over the left side of the field, logged three goals and five assists this season, but will always be remembered as the rookie whose last-minute tally broke a scoreless tie in the 2010 NEC Championship Game.
Quinnipiac senior forward Kaitlyn Notarianni (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) and Sacred Heart junior back Kim Pobutkiewicz (West Long Branch, NJ/Shore) come from opposite ends of the Merritt Parkway Rivalry, but are now together on the All-NEC Second Team. Notarianni was one of six Bobcats to start in all 18 regular season contests. Quinnipiac’s third-leading scorer (21 points) tallied eight goals and five assists. Pobutkiewicz made only six appearances as a sophomore, but had little trouble taking on a starting role this season. The former three-sport athlete in high school played alongside Kimborowicz in what was a strong Pioneers’ backfield. She recorded five assist and one defensive save in 18 starts.