Lori Hussong
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Lori Hussong joined the Rider athletics staff in 2000 as the field hockey head coach, and has enjoyed nothing but success. The two-time Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, Hussong has led six of her Rider teams to either an NEC Championship (2004, 2002, 2000) or an NEC Regular Season Title (2005, 2003, 2001) and all seven teams have qualified for the conference playoffs and her 93 wins are the most ever in the history of the program.
In 2006, the Broncs finished 5-3 in the NEC (12-7 overall) before falling to eventual champion Lock Haven 2-1 in the semi-finals. In the Spring 2007 semester, Hussong’s team compiled the highest team semester g.p.a. (3.33) of Rider’s 20 varsity sports, the third time in the last seven semesters that the team has been honored and all of her seniors have graduated.
In 2005, Hussong guided the Broncs to the NEC Regular Season Title with a 7-1 conference record en route to a 14-6 season and to the conference championship game, earning Coach of the Year honors. Off the field, the team compiled the highest team GPA (3.281) of the 20 varsity teams at Rider for the Fall 2005 semester.
In 2004, Hussong was chosen to coach the National Field Hockey Coaches Association North/South Senior All-Star Game, after guiding Rider to the seventh best win-loss record in Division I (18-3). Her 2004 squad ranked in the Top 10 in Scoring Defense (6th at 0.94), Scoring Offense (10th at 3.06) and Margin of Victory (9th at 2.12). Off the field, her 2004 team compiled a 3.41 grade point average.
Hussong has taken the 2000, 2002 and 2004 Rider teams to the NCAA Tournament, and won the NEC Regular Season in 2001, 2003 and 2005. Hussong took over a team that had an RPI of 75 and achieved an all-time high of 29 during the 2004 season.
“More important than the championships and the accolades are the relationships, friendships and support we are sharing,” said Hussong, a wife and mother of three. “Our program is a ‘family’ now and that makes our work as coaches so rewarding and enjoyable that we can’t help but to pour our hearts and souls into it. The girls we recruit are quality students, athletes and people. We love to watch them grow and mature and exude what we know as ‘Rider Pride’.”
A 1984 graduate of Trenton State College, Hussong came to Rider from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, where she is in her 24th year and coached field hockey for 13 years. At West Windsor-Plainsboro, Hussong led her squads to nine Colonial Valley Conference Championships, three Central Jersey Group IV Sectional Championships, and one Mercer County Championship. As a player at Trenton State, Hussong was named to the NCAA All-Decade team for the 1980's and was a member of the 1981 and 1983 National Championship teams, earning NCAA All-Tournament team honors in 1982 and 1983. She was named a Penn Monto Division III All-American in 1983.
Hussong originally hails from Cinnaminson and played varsity field hockey and softball for Cinnaminson High School before graduating in 1980. Hussong was inducted into the Cinnaminson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. At West Windsor-Plainsboro, Hussong compiled a coaching record of 192-57-11.
Lori, and her husband Dan who is the assistant field hockey coach at Rider, are the parents of three children; Michael, Colby and Tommy.
