Finals Recap
It took 63 minutes to name a winner in the NEC championship between the reigning NEC champion and the regular season co-champions.
Rider started the game by sending the ball deep into the offensive side. Rider quickly started to put on the offensive pressure, but Fairfield was able to pick up the ball. NEC rookie of the year, Iny Zoontjens, got a shot in the 2nd minute but the ball was put right into Peyton Rahn's pads before going over the end line. Fairfield changed up their normal outletting style of only going down the right side, and went down the left side instead for a few attempts. They then went back down their right side and were able to pick up a corner from it. After being redirected a few times, the shot was hit in by Julianna Kratz giving Fairfield the 1-0. Rider did not let the Stag's celebration last long. Lyric Scott carried the ball into the circle and Zoontjens picked up a corner for the Broncs. The initial shot was saved by Rahn, but the rebound went into a defender's foot, causing another corner. The shot, taken by Semra Said, was tipped up into the goal by Zoontjens to tie the score at 1-1. The rest of the quarter was played in the midfield, with both teams making turnover after turnover.
The ball started deep in the Rider offensive end but was quickly carried back to the other side of the field as Fairfield stuck to their typical right side of the field. Rider was able to bring it back up their right side and find Zoontjens who took a shot. The shot was saved by Rahn. Fairfield was giving Rider plenty of space in the middle of the field, allowing them to get the ball back from their defensive end and into their circle. They were not able to produce any results in their circle. Rider then quickly realized that going up their left side was not going to work, and tried to move the ball away from that side, but Fairfield was maintaining possession and managed to pick up a corner. The stopper was unable to stop the insert, but a foul caused it to be a free hit for Fairfield from the top of the circle as they ran out of time in the half.
Fairfield started their quarter with a backpass, but Rider was able to pick up the ball after a few passes. Rider found their way into their circle but was not able to come up with anything. The Broncs' press was high, but it allowed Fairfield to get through it easily and got a corner. The shot was saved by Kaitlyn Tomas. After a failed attempt at Rider outletting, Fairfield got the ball back and got another corner. The stop was not done properly, and while the Stags did manage to get a shot, it bounced right off Tomas's pads and Rider was able to get the ball to the midline. After some time in the midfield, Fairfield was able to grab another corner. A rider defender was able to get the ball and get it back into their offensive circle. Fairfield's zonal defensive circle press was working out well for the Stags, preventing the Rider offense from getting much of anything. Rider picked up most of the loose balls in hit towards their defensive circle, resulting in the quarter ending with nothing being added to the board.
Fairfield turnover over the ball pretty quickly after the initial pass, and Rider was able to maintain possession. They got a few looks in their circle but came up with nothing and Fairfield switched to offense. Fairfield finally made it into their circle, a few fouls later, and got a corner. The shot went right into the flyer's foot but resulted in a free hit from the sideline. In the 54th minute, Rider was awarded a penalty corner. The shot was saved by Rahn, and the rebound went straight to a Fairfield player who was waiting at the top of the circle. She turned the ball over, and then another Fairfield player caused a foul resulting in a corner. The shot on the corner was saved by Rahn and was given to a Fairfield defender. After a bit of back and forth, Fairfield made it into their circle with under a minute to go and picked up another corner. The shot by Kratz went over the end line off of Tomas's pads.
Fairfield started with possession and stuck to their normal strategy of back passing. They tried to remain patient and pass until they found an opening but this resulted in a turnover. It took two plays for Rider to get the first corner of overtime. The initial shot was saved and the second hit the crossbar. 30 seconds later, Lyric Scott found Valeria Perales who scored the game-winning goal for the Broncs.
The Rider Broncs are your 2022 NEC Champions and will receive the NEC's automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.
Finals Preview
How they got here:
Rider went 14-5 overall, and 6-1 in the NEC. Their NEC loss came against Saint Francis in the first in-conference game of the season. They had an impressive win over #25 American in a 3-1 game. They outscored their opponents 54-21. They are 10th in the country for assists per game with 2.53, 11th for goals per game with 2.95, and 3rd for corners per game with 8.68. In the first round, they had a revenge game against Saint Francis that they won 2-0.
Fairfield went 11-8 overall and went 5-2 in the NEC. Their NEC losses came against Rider and Wagner. In their first 8 games of the season, they lost 6 of the games with only one being against a ranked team. They have outscored their opponents 41-35. In the semifinals, they upset Wagner in a 2-1 game.
Key Players:
Rider:
Valeria Perales - Perales is a freshman forward from Spain. She leads the team in goals with 19. She has the 6th most goals per game with 1.00. She has the highest goals-per-game average for all the D1 freshmen. She also has had 8 assists.
Indy Zoontjens - Zoontjens is a freshman midfielder from the Netherlands. She has had 11 goals and 12 assists this season. She has the 14th-highest assists per game average in D1 with 0.63. Zoontjens also had 2 goals in the Bronc's last game against Fairfield.
Semra Said - Said is a freshman forward from Germany. Said has 9 goals this season, including a goal in the semifinals and a goal the last time they played Fairfield. She is 1-1 for penalty strokes this season.
Kaitlyn Tomas - Tomas is a senior goalie from Ontario. She has had 20 goals against her this season and had recorded 80 saves. Her save percentage is 0.800, which is the 4th highest in D1. Her GAA is 1.08.
Fairfield:
Nora Amme - Amme is a fifth-year midfielder from Germany. She has 7 goals and 11 assists this season. She has gone 2-2 for strokes this season.
Emily Kness - Kness is a senior back from New York. While her only statistic is 1 defensive save, Kness is a key player in the Stags defense. She plays center back and has a great hockey IQ, allowing her to create plays and get her team on the offense.
Payton Rahn - Rahn has done a great job replacing Zoe Rosen in the net for the Stags. She is a sophomore from Connecticut. She has allowed 36 goals this season and made 93 saves. Her save percentage is 0.721.
Previous matchups:
The last time these teams played each other was back at the beginning of October. Rider walked away with a 3-1 win.
In the all-time record, Rider has won 18 games and Fairfield was win 11. In the last ten games, Fairfield has won 7 of the games.
Prediction:
Fairfield has a 57% chance of winning back-to-back NEC championships.
Semifinals Recap
Rider vs. Saint Francis
What are they feeding the freshmen in Lawrenceville? The freshman once again came up big for Rider to send them to the finals.
The game started out neck-and-neck with Saint Francis putting up a strong fight. In the first quarter, Rider had 6 corners but SFU limited them to only having 3 shots. Saint Francis had 3 corners and 3 shots.
In the second, Rider picked up the pressure with 6 shots. Freshman Valeria Perales scored the first goal for the Broncs in the 26th minute.
Rider started the third quarter with numbers up, as SFU's Julia Breneman had received a yellow card at the end of the second. With numbers up, freshman Semra Said was able to score another goal for Rider.
Rider did not allow Saint Francis to get any shots or corners in the fourth, giving them the 2-0 win.
Rider will play Fairfield in the finals on Sunday.
Wagner vs. Fairfield
Despite the number predicting a Fairfield win, going into the match I thought that Wagner was going to come out with the win. Unfortunately, their fourth-quarter frenzy did not result in a win for the Seahawks.
The first quarter was statistically even at 3 shots for each team, although Fairifled was dominating possession. The Stags had 3 corners, but Daisy Ruhle stopped their attempts.
In the second quarter, Fairfield continued to maintain possession, which allowed Nora Amme to find Julia Kratz for the 1-0 lead. Wagner then picked up their pace, with 3 shots. Payton Rahn stopped two of them and the other went wide. At the end of the quarter, Fairfield had back-to-back corners, resulting in a goal from Frances Mirabile.
With a 2-0 score going into half Wagner needed to pick up the pace if they wanted to win. They started the quarter strong with three shots from Agustina DeHarbe. But nothing came from it, and they would not get another shot for the rest of the quarter.
The fourth quarter started with a corner from Fairfield that was saved by Ruhle. Wagner then got a corner, but the shot went wide. The ball then made its way to the other side of the field, where Fairfield took another shot that was saved by Ruhle. Wagner then had three unsuccessful corners. Finally, Julia Pastorino was able to score off a corner to put the Seahawks back in the game. After a terrible call from the ref, Wagner received another corner (instead of a stroke), which they were unsuccessful in converting.
Fairfield will play Rider on Sunday.
Semifinals Preview
The NEC tournament starts on Friday, November 4th at 11 am.
The games are as follows:
Game 1: Rider vs. Saint Francis
Game 2: Wagner vs. Fairfield
Rider vs. Saint Francis
The last time these teams saw each other, SFU came up with a major upset. The Red Flashes beat the Broncs 3-2. Before that, SFU hadn't beaten the Broncs since 2016.
The Broncs have beaten Saint Francis 20 times. Saint Francis has won 3 times, with two of them coming back in 2014 and 2015. Rider has averaged 3.13 goals per game, while Saint Francis has averaged 0.78 goals per game.
Based on the three games the teams have played against each other since 2019, there is a 65% chance the Rider will win the game.
Wagner vs. Fairfield
The Seahawks beat the Stags for the first time in school history this season, in a 2-1 win.
Since the Seahawks have only been around since 2019, the historic record between the two schools is short. The teams have faced each other a total of 3 times, with Fairfield winning 2 of the 3 games. Wagner has averaged 1 goal a game, and Fairfield has averaged 2.3 goals per game.
The numbers predict that there is a 71% chance that Fairfield will be the team making the finals, but I would not count Wagner out. Wagner has quickly become an NEC powerhouse and will definitely give Fairfield a run for its money.