Lawrenceville, NJ - The Wagner College field hockey team returns to the road for their second away contest of the season when they take on the undefeated Rider Broncs on Thursday afternoon in Lawrenceville, NJ. The game is set for 4:00 PM and will have LiveStats available here.

LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER...
The Seahawks improved to 3-2 and 3-1 in conference on Monday afternoon, beating Northeast Conference (NEC) foe Bryant, 1-0.
 
Freshman Emma Brushingham's first career Seahawk goal proved to be the game winner as freshman goalkeeper Erin Franklin, who stopped both shots that came at her, recorded her first career shutout victory.
 
The Green & White outshot the Bulldogs 24-3, the highest shot total in program history, while their 12 shots on target were the most since the 5-0 season finale victory over Merrimack back in November of 2019. In addition to setting a school record for shots in a game, the Seahawks 15 penalty corners were also the most earned in a single game in school history.

ABOUT RIDER...
The Broncs come into Thursday's contest with Wagner boasting an unbeaten record with tightly contested 1-0 wins over preseason favorite Fairfield and LIU, who is currently sitting in second place in the NEC. A third win over Merrimack, 7-0, back on March 22, has the Broncs at 3-0 on the season and a goal differential of plus nine.

Head coach Lori Hussong, who is in her 21^st season at the helm of the Broncs' field hockey program, returned three First Team All NEC players from last season, including reigning NEC Offensive Player of the Year, Julia Divorra. 
 
The Broncs' attack has been led by Divorra, who is pacing the squad with three goals, six points, and 12 shots on the season, followed closely by Brittany Romanczuk and fellow First Team All NEC member Carly Brosious who have both tallied two goals apiece.

Defensively, Rider will look to build on their impressive streak of shutouts, as well as continuing to restrict their opponents to no more than four shots per game. Sophomore goaltender Kaitlyn Tomas has started all three games in net, recording five saves and a goals against average of 0.00.
 
NEC IMPLICATIONS…
With the regular season drawing to a close, the Seahawks still have control of their own destiny in regard to the NEC Field Hockey Championship. Traditionally consisting of four teams in a two-round tournament, the 2021 Spring NEC Championship will be a single match, pitting the number two and number one seeds against each other the week of April 19-24. The Green & White currently sit in a tie for second place in the conference with LIU, however, the Sharks hold the tiebreaker over Wager, having defeated them 2-1 back on April 1. 
 
A win over Rider would move the Green & White above the Broncs in the standings and into either first place or sole possession of second place in the conference with only one game left to play.

UP NEXT...
The Seahawks will stay on the road for their regular season finale on Sunday, April 11 against the Fairfield Stags in Fairfield, CT at 4:00 PM.