College Field Hockey: Penas, Muschs Honored by the Northeast Conference

 SOMERSET — Neither rain, nor wind, nor Hurricane Sandy will prevent the Northeast Conference from its duty to name the weekly awards.

Junior Sandra Penas (Barcelona, Spain) and freshman Allison Muschs (Linkebeek, Belgium) of the Rider University field hockey team were named the NEC Player and Rookie of the Week respectively for the final week of the regular season.

Penas had three goals and an assist, leading Rider (13-5, 6-1 NEC) to a 2-0 week and helping the Broncs clinch at least a share of the NEC regular championship for the fourth season in a row. 

With Rider trailing 1-0 against NEC co-champion St. Francis (Pa.), Penas tied the game just 24 seconds after the Red Flash took the lead in Rider’s eventual 2-1 win on Oct. 26.

Against Monmouth on Oct. 28, Penas had a five-point day.  Penas helped give Rider a 1-0 lead, assisting on the first goal of the game and after the Hawks tied the game at 1-1, she scored her 15th goal of the year just 1:17 later.  With the Broncs leading 4-2, Penas put the game away with an unassisted tally, her 16th of the season with 3:12 left for the final score.

Penas leads the NEC in points (39) and her 16 goals are second in the conference.

Muschs also played a crucial role in leading Rider to a share of the NEC Title.  The freshman had a goal and two assists as the Broncs defeated Monmouth to clinch the top-seed in the four-team playoffs Nov. 2-3 at Ben Cohen Field.

Tied 1-1 against the Hawks, Muschs assisted on a penalty corner as Rider went ahead 2-1 and after Monmouth tied the game 2-2, she converted a penalty stroke for the eventual game-winner to give Rider a 3-2 lead at the half.  Muschs assisted on an insurance goal with less than eight minutes left to put Rider ahead 4-2 in the eventual 5-2 win.

Penas, the 2011 NEC Offensive Player of the Year and 2010 NEC Rookie of the Year, has 13 points (6g, 1a) in the past four games and is now sixth on Rider’s all-time scoring list with 121 points (49g, 23a).

This is the second week in a row and fourth time this season that Penas has earned NEC Player of the Week honors, having been recognized on Sept. 17, Oct. 1 and Oct. 22.

This is the third time this season that Muschs has earned NEC Rookie of the Week accolades, having also been recognized Sept. 4 and 24.

This is the 13th season in a row that Rider has qualified for the NEC playoffs.

Rider has won the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011 and now the 2012 NEC regular season titles with the Broncs winning the NEC Championship in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010 and 2011. Rider has advanced to the NEC Title game in 10 of the last 12 seasons.

Rider will host fourth seed Quinnipiac on Friday at 1:30pm in the second NEC semifinal.  The opening semifinal game has third seed Monmouth against second seed St. Francis (Pa.), also at Ben Cohen Field, beginning at 11am.

The NEC Championship game is Saturday at noon.