November 1, 2007 - LoCastro Northeast Conference Goalie of the Year / Five Broncs All-Conference Honors
November 1, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Field Hockey
Rider’s LoCastro Northeast Conference Goalie of the Year
Five Broncs All-Conference Honors
LOCK HAVEN, Pa.—Rider University senior Jennifer LoCastro was named the Northeast Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and was one of three Broncs named First Team All-NEC it was announced by the conference office Thursday night. “J-Lo stepped up and was an outstanding leader for us this season,” said head coach Lori Hussong.
Also awarded First Team All-NEC honors were senior forward Stephanie Walker (Lyman, Maine/Massabesic) and freshman midfielder Margaret Ecke (New Egypt, N.J./New Egypt).
“J-Lo is a hard worker on a daily basis,” said assistant coach and goalkeeper guru Dan Hussong. “She was behind All-NEC goalie Krysta Bearish for three years and waited her turn and she stepped up in a huge way. She has accomplished more than what most people through she was going to do and she should take great pride in this accomplishment.”
Rider junior forward Tricia Crotty (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) and junior back Julie Vaccarelli (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) were awarded All-NEC Second Team honors.
“It was no surprise that ‘J-Lo’, Walker and Ecke were named First Team All-NEC,” said Hussong. “Walker has had just an excellent career at Rider and she is now playing the best field hockey of her career. Ecke has been a great role model and her skills have elevated the play of the team. Right now it is so hard to get any all-conference recognition because there are so many quality players in the NEC so for Ecke to get this honor, as a rookie is quite an accomplishment. We can put her in any position and she has made all of the adjustments to step up to the level of collegiate play.”
LoCastro (Cherry Hill/Camden Catholic) led the conference in shutouts with two and was second in goals against average (1.74) while compiling 10 wins. LoCastro enters the conference tournament 10th in the nation in save percentage (.796), 15th in saves per game (6.94) and 27th in goals against average. LoCastro led the Broncs to a second place finish in the conference with a 6-1 record and the number two seed in the postseason tournament starting on Friday.
“I’m honored,” said LoCastro. “I didn’t expect the award at all and I don’t think I would have been able to achieve this without Coach Dan, Coach Lori and the rest of the team. Being a goalie is a demanding job and you have to take control back there and do the best that you can. You can see the things that the team needs to do and how they need to play to win games.”
“As a program, we take great pride in what ‘J-Lo’ has done,” Dan Hussong added. “She was always a team player, whether she didn’t play a minute or was in there the whole game. I am most proud of her positive attitude all of the time. If we are down, she picks us up and especially this season when we haven’t had the offensive production that we are used to, having her stop everything takes a lot of pressure off the offense.”
Walker, a Second Team All-NEC honoree as a junior, had six goals and two assists while placing fourth in the conference in shots with 47. Walker has 35 career goals and 87 points, sixth best on the all-time scoring list at Rider. Walker was a First Team All-NEC honoree as a sophomore after being awarded Second Team All-NEC honors as a rookie.
Ecke had two goals and four assists for Rider during the regular season. Ecke was awarded NEC Rookie of the Week honors October 15-21 scoring an overtime goal and adding two assists. That week, Rider (10-8) clinched the number two seed in the NEC with back to back road wins over Monmouth and Sacred Heart. Ecke was one of four Rookie of the Week award winners for the Broncs this season.
Crotty, an All-NEC First Team honoree as a sophomore, led the Broncs in scoring with eight goals and three assists. Crotty ranked seventh in the conference in goals and eighth in points and is currently eighth all-time at Rider in goals scored with 30 and 10th with 70 career points. Crotty, the NEC Rookie of the Year in 2005, was named to the postseason All-Tournament team as a rookie.
Vaccarelli, an NEC Scholar Athlete as a sophomore, started 16 games for Rider and led the NEC with seven defensive saves. Vaccarelli anchored a Bronc defense that ranked second in goals against average.
“Julie battled through an extremely tough year off the field,” Hussong said. “She is probably one of the top defenders in the league and it is a credit to her character and perseverance that she was able to battle through. Tricia was our top scorer and a past conference Rookie of the Year and it speaks volumes to the level of competition in the league that she only received Second Team honors. The conference was pretty equal all around and the level of play has gotten better. All of the teams have many great players competing for these precious honors and there are only so many to give out.”
Picked fourth in the preseason poll, Rider is the number two seed and faces the third seed Sacred Heart in the second semifinal at Lock Haven on Friday at 1:30pm. Rider defeated the Pioneers 3-1 in Fairfield, Connecticut on October 21. In the other semifinal, number four seed Saint Francis-Pa., faces the regular season champion Bald Eagles at 11:00am.
This marks the eighth straight season under Head Coach Lori Hussong that Rider has qualified for the postseason tournament in the NEC. Rider won the 2000, 2002 and 2004 conference postseason tournament and won the NEC regular season title in 2001, 2003 and 2005. Last season, the Broncs were eliminated in the semifinals 2-1 by eventual NEC champion Lock Haven.
“The goalie is the heartbeat of the team,” Dan Hussong added. “It is a team award winning Goalkeeper of the Year because as the goalie goes so goes the team. The goalie is the brain, heartbeat of the operation and the team gained strength from LoCastro every minute of every game. She makes a big play and the momentum swings to us. She is the reason we went 6-1 in the conference and obviously the other coaches recognized that for her to win this award.”
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