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Lawrenceville, NJ – For the third straight year, the winner of the Northeast Conference Field Hockey Championship will hail from the Garden State. No. 1 Rider got two goals from senior Gabby Burgo (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood) and put on a strong defensive effort, as the Broncs defeated No. 4 Quinnipiac, 4-1, to advance to play Monmouth for the NEC crown.
 
Rider improves to 14-5 and will look to capture its third straight NEC Championship, sixth overall, when it faces the Hawks at noon on Saturday at Ben Cohen Field. Quinnipiac ends its season at 12-7.
 
Playing the team that snapped its 25-game NEC winning steak earlier this season, Rider came out of the gates full steam. The Broncs held the Bobcats to no shots (10-0) in the first half and staked a 2-0 lead on back-to-back goals by Burgo less than 11 minutes apart.
 
The Collingswood, NJ native got the offense going when she connected on the end of a penalty corner play setup by teammates Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain/ies Joaquim Blume) and Marlaine Schneider (Feasterville, PA/Neshaminy) at the 14:43 mark. Exactly 10 minutes and 59 seconds later, she struck again on another great passing display, with Allison Muschs (Linkebeek, Belgium/Lycee Emile Jacqmain) feeding the pass to her for a tip in near the goal line at 25:42.
 
After the break, Quinnipiac stifled the run momentairly when Lauren Zimanski (Dallas, PA/Dallas) chipped a ball past Joelle Prettyman (Newark, DE/St. Mark’s) with just five minutes and 33 seconds elapsed.
 
The Broncs, however, would restore the two-goal advantage and add to it later in the second frame. Muschs got in on the scoring action following a Bobcat penalty that resulted in a penalty stroke with less than 15 minutes to play, and Penas added some extra insurance on an unassisted play with 7:39 showing on the clock.
 
Rider controlled the pace of the game with a 22-5 advantage in shot and received 12 penalty corner opportunities compared to QU’s eight. Prettyman earned the win in net with three saves - all of which came in the second half - while the Bobcats’ Nicole Lewis (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) suffered the loss, stopping 13 shots.
 
The winner of Saturday’s championship between Rider and Monmouth will advance to the NCAA Play-In Game, where they will face the winner of the Atlantic-10 Championship for the right to play in the NCAA Tournament. To view the NEC Title Game live, please visit www.necfrontrow.com.