Field Hockey Takes Empire 8 Title with 3-1 Win Over W&J; Erin Broderick Named MVP
HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 8, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team won its second-straight Empire 8 Championship on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over third-seeded Washington & Jefferson College. Freshman Mary Nikish (Pittsford, N.Y.), sophomore Meghan Broderick (East Setauket, N.Y.), and senior Kara Borzillo (Mount Laurel, N.J.) scored the Stevens goals, and senior Erin Broderick (East Setauket, N.Y.) was named the Empire 8 Championship game Most Valuable Player. Stevens, now 17-3 on the year, will move on to the 2009 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship after earning the Empire 8’s automatic berth.
Unlike the 5-0 win over Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals, Stevens had to battle back from an early hole in this one. The Presidents were able to get on the board at the 4:55 mark after a penalty corner. Sophomore Hannah Lott (Aspers, Pa.) hit out to the top of the circle where junior Kolby Seidel (Oley, Pa.) was waiting. Seidel blasted a shot towards the cage and junior goalkeeper Ellyn Griggs (Hillsborough, N.J.) was able to make the initial save, but the rebound went to an open Erin Barno (Camp Hill, Pa.) who punched it in for the goal.
The Ducks (17-3) did not blink, came right back and really took control of the action, refusing to allow the ball out of the Presidents’ zone for most of the half. W&J goalkeeper Roslynn Reynoso (Fall Brook, Calif.) made nine saves to help the Presidents hold their lead, but eventually the Ducks were able to break through.
After a penalty corner, sophomore Mallory Swanson (Princeton Junction, N.J.) took a shot from the top of the circle. Reynoso was able to make the stop but the rebound trickled to Nikish on the right post, and she was able to put it in for the score. It was the first goal of her career and an enormous goal for the Ducks.
Stevens took the lead for good 6:21 later on a picture-perfect tally. Freshman Marguerite Chavez (Ocean Port, N.J.) had the ball on the right side of the striking circle. She made a move towards the goal and crossed to senior Borzillo, who then tapped to sophomore Meghan Broderick in front. Broderick was perfectly positioned on the right post to give the Ducks a 2-1 edge.
Stevens took the lead and all the momentum into the break. The Ducks held a 19-3 edge in shots and out-cornered W&J 10-1 over the first 35 minutes.
The first 20 minutes of the second half saw no real scoring chances for either team as possession was maintained in the middle third of the field.
Stevens regained control of the game late and put things away with 3:58 to play. After a corner, Erin Broderick, penetrated down the middle from the top of the circle with some nice stick work, and at the last possible moment, made a perfect pass to Borzillo on the left post. Borzillo lunged and scored her 10th goal of the season and third goal of the conference tournament.
The Ducks dominated the game on the stat sheet and ended with a 25-4 advantage in shots. Stevens took 17 corners compared to just two for W&J (8-8). Reynoso was the hard-luck loser in goal. The sophomore ended the day with 11 saves and three goals against. Junior Ellyn Griggs (Hillsborough, N.J.) made three stops for Stevens, and got the win.
The Ducks now won 17-straight games against conference opponents dating back to the final day of the 2007 regular season and will now compete in the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship for the second time in as many years.
The Ducks’ senior class of Borzillo, Elizabeth Zmijewski (Oaklyn, N.J.), Erin Broderick, Megan Clifford (Pogouson, Va.), and Jessica Ablonczy (Shady Side, Md.) is now 60-22 over the last four seasons.
Stevens will now await its draw in the NCAA Tournament. That announcement will come on Monday.
RU Volleyball Rallies for 3-2 Senior Day Win over St. John's
- Posted on 11/8/2009 6:24:15 PM
New Brunswick, N.J. (November 8, 2009) – The Rutgers volleyball team capped off an intense weekend by giving its seniors a grand home finale as the Scarlet Knights rallied to defeat St. John’s, 3-2, Sunday afternoon in the College Ave. Gym.
Down 1-0 and trailing 16-9 in the second set, Rutgers (10-17, 3-9 BIG EAST) began to fight back into the match and closed the gap to two points at 22-20. The Red Storm (9-19, 2-10 BIG EAST) extended its lead to 24-22 but the Scarlet Knights would not be denied as they scored six out of the next eight points to take the second set by a 28-26 mark.
The Red Storm bounced back in the third set for a 26-24 victory. Rutgers’ pushed the match to five sets for the second straight day by claiming a 25-22 fourth-set victory.
In the final set, St. John’s went up 8-5. After the teams switched sides, the Scarlet Knights went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 12-8. RU only relinquished two more points the rest of the way as it went on to win the final set by a 15-10 score and capture the senior day victory.
The win gives Rutgers double-digit wins for the first time since 2005 when the squad won 11.
“It was a great win for our team today,” said Rutgers head coach CJ Werneke. “I told our team before today’s match that we had more positives than negatives yesterday (against Connecticut), but we couldn’t get the win. The true character of a team is shown with how they respond to adversity and they responded great today.”
Junior outside hitter Caitlin Saxton (Encinitas, Calif.) scored her ninth double-double of the seasonwith 23 kills and 15 digs. The BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll member has eclipsed 20 kills six times this season.
Freshmen setter Stephanie Zielinski (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) had an outstanding performance with a career-high 63 assists. The five-foot-10 setter tallied 114 assists for the weekend.
Rutgers strong defensive performance was highlighted by the squad’s season-high of 24 total blocks. Freshman middle blocker Alex Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) and junior outside hitter Emma Chrystal (Kalamazoo, Mich.) each set a career high with a match-best seven total blocks. Chrystal and Jones each chipped in offensively by scoring 13 and six kills, respectively.
Senior libero Jamie Godfrey (Rahway, N.J.) scooped 21 digs for her sixth 20-plus dig match of the season. Godfrey now owns 913 career digs. She is 14 digs away from moving into seventh place on the school’s all-time list.
Prior to the match, six Scarlet Knights were honored as it was their last time playing at The Barn - Seniors Sophie Cook (Colorado Spring, Colo.), Godfrey, Stephanie Moore (Dallas, Texas), Kyra Thompson (Tuscon, Ariz.), Victoria Thomas (Dallas, Texas) and junior Katie Barends (Glen Gardner, N.J). Barends is graduating in the spring and will not use her final year of eligibility.
“I told our seniors two years ago or even last year you probably couldn’t have envisioned a senior day weekend like this,” said Werneke. “Going down to brink with Connecticut and beating St. John’s. It was nice way for them to go out.”
Thomas had her best performance as a Scarlet Knight as she swatted 14 kills on an impressive .393 attack percentage. The five-foot-eight outside hitter also shined defensively with six digs and two total blocks. Thomas performed well even prior to the match as she sang the national anthem. The match was extra special for the Dallas, Texas native as it was the first time her mom Rosemary was able to watch her play “On the Banks.”
“It was great to see Victoria perform the way we believed she was capable of,” said Werneke.”For her to do it on senior day in front of her mom makes it even more special.”
Rutgers will play its final regular season matches next weekend when it travels to West Virginia on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Sunday.
Johnson’s Game-Winner in 89th Minute Lifts Men’s Soccer to Empire 8 Championship
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (November 8, 2009) – Senior forward Terrence Johnson (New Orleans, La.) scored the game-winner in the 89th minute to lift the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s soccer team to a 2-1 win over top-seeded Nazareth College in Empire 8 Men’s Soccer Championship final on Sunday afternoon in Rochester, N.Y. Junior Bryan De Faria (Hillside, N.J.) assisted on the deciding tally as the Ducks advance to their seventh-straight NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship. Johnson was named the championship game’s Most Valuable Player, tallying both Stevens goals.
Stevens (15-3-1) threatened early and often, taking the game’s first six shots but Nazareth goalkeeper Ryan Platt (Preston, England) made several impressive stops, most notably back-to-back diving saves in a one-on-one battle with Johnson at the top of the goalie box in the fifth minute.
The Golden Flyers (11-5-2) settled down and generated several solid chances but were unable to score, and the Ducks were able to break through at the 16:26 mark on Johnson’s first goal of the match. The Duck senior received a pass from freshman forward Victor Daza (North Plainfield, N.J.) and with a defender on his hip, he moved through the box from left to right before ripping a shot back across the goal into the lower-left corner. It was Johnson’s ninth tally of the season and Daza’s second assist.
Moments after the Stevens goal, Nazareth had an excellent chance but junior goalkeeper Zach Carr (Carmel, Ind.) was able to tip senior Chris Lofgren’s (Vellinge, Sweden) long shot off the cross bar and senior back Chris Faustino (Union, N.J.) was able to block a rebound attempt and clear the ball.
The Golden Flyers were able to connect on their next scoring opportunity in the 32nd minute of play as Lofgren sent a ball into the box, and Stevens was whistled for a hand ball. Junior Rikesh Kotak (Leciester, England) scored on the ensuing penalty kick to tie the game at one. Kotak's penalty kick was the first that Stevens had given up during the 2009 season. The goal was the first the Ducks had allowed since a loss at Elmira College on October 17.
Early in the second half, Johnson had a great chance after beating the keeper in another one-on-one situation on the right wing. This time, his shot rang off the far left post and the game remained knotted at one.
With 1:30 on the clock and the score still tied, Nazareth was able to generate its only corner kick of the game but that corner would be the start the Ducks’ game-winning goal. Following the service, De Faria was able to chase down the loose ball. The junior made several touches before launching a beautiful long ball to a streaking Johnson who had beaten the Nazareth defense. Johnson was able to chase it down and fire a laser to beat Platt and put the Ducks up, 2-1, with just 1:11 remaining on the clock. The tally was the 20th game-winning goal of his career.
“Terrence came up huge today,” Head Coach Tim O’Donohue (Hoboken, N.J.) said. “He’s really had an amazing career and for him to be able to come up with two great plays like that in this situation shows what type of player he is.”
The Ducks’ D was able to hold over the final 71 seconds, and Stevens punched its seventh-straight ticket to the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship. Stevens, who has won a conference championship eight of the last nine seasons, finished the game with a 19-11 advantage in shots and a 3-1 edge in corners. The Ducks outshot the Golden Flyers 10-3 in the second half.
“For our team to go on the road and into a hostile environment and come out with a win demonstrates the type of character these young men have,” said O’Donohue. “We’ve had some tough breaks this season, but the entire team battled through adversity, improved, and came up big when it mattered most.”
Carr made six saves and earned the win in goal for the Ducks. In nine matches against Empire 8 foes, Carr allowed a total of three goals. Platt played well for Nazareth in the loss, making 10 saves. The two goals against were only the second and third he had allowed against conference opponents all season.
Stevens’ group of seven seniors – Johnson, Faustino, Al Lockhart (Decatur, Ga.), John Radvany (Yardley, Pa.), Todd Sheridan (Galloway, N.J.), Kevin Matyger (Newark, Del.), and Josh Williams (Houston, Texas) - has now won four conference titles, six NCAA Tournament games to date, and compiled an overall record of 69-7-11.
The Ducks will now await their draw in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. An official announcement will be made on Monday.
