MADISON, NJ – Abby Andrus,
Kelsey Homberg, and
Heather Riefenhauser helped break the history books wide open as both played instrumental roles in Susquehanna's highest-scoring game since 2014, defeating Drew 21-17 in their Landmark Conference opener Monday. Andrus tied the conference record for goals in a game with 11, Homberg had three goals to surpass the 100 career goal mark, and Riefenhauser produced ten points on two goals and eight assists. Andrus added one assist for 12 points on the day. The win bolstered Susquehanna's win streak to six and a 7-2 record.
Originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed due to inclement weather, both teams made up for lost time with a nine-goal first quarter, with the River Hawks in front 5-4. Ironically, Andrus scored just one of those first-quarter goals, as the River Hawks' opening scores belonged to
Caitlin Harvey from
Hannah McNamara to take a 1-0 lead, then after two straight Drew scores Riefenhauser fed
Liv Owen the tying score to make it 2-2. Andrus then took center stage to score the team's third goal to take a 3-2 lead, then assisted SU's next score, feeding
Allie Kutler for a 4-3 advantage. After the Rangers tied the game just 24 seconds later on a one-up opportunity by Mary Kate Davidson, Riefenhauser netted her first goal of the contest with 22 seconds left in the quarter to take a 5-4 lead.
This ignited another five-goal quarter for Susquehanna in the second as the team delivered the first three goals of the period. Andrus got the first of the period from Owen, followed by Riefenhauser for her second and the third from Homberg to take an 8-4 lead and put Homberg on the doorstep of the century goal mark. Drew would not go away just yet as the Rangers responded with two straight goals to cut their lead on half. Homberg jumped to the occasion to not only reach her career milestone, but put her team back in control as she connected for an unassisted score to lead, 9-6, with Andrus' third goal offering some late first half insurance for a 10-6 lead at halftime.
The River Hawks got cooking in the third quarter with seven goals in the session and holding the Rangers to three, although it was Drew that scored two of the first three to open the second half with Andrus' fourth goal sandwiched in the middle. This triggered a five-goal explosion for Susquehanna, with Andrus right in the middle of it scoring four of them, including one on a one-up chance and one woman-down. Riefenhauser assisted on three of these, with the other assist belonging to
Emma Kelleher, who also provided the one other goal in this stretch. Drew would get one more before the quarter concluded, as did Susquehanna with Homberg picking up her hat trick with just seconds remaining on the clock on a Riefenhauser assist to lead 17-9.
Drew would not be denied, as they wound up scoring the most goals of any quarter in the game with eight in the fourth, including four straight to reduce Susquehanna's lead to 18-14 with 8:45 left in the game. Andrus helped the River Hawks regain control by scoring the team's final three goals of the contest to counter each of Drew's remaining scores.
Hannah McNamara had the team's one other score of the fourth as she flashed two points on the day with one goal and one assist each.
The final stat line amazingly showed a 37-37 tie in shots, with Drew leading 33-26 in shots on goal. Not to be outdone by her teammates, sophomore goalie
Aerin O'Brien displayed a career outing with 16 saves to pick up the win, while the Rangers' Paige Shaw administered 21 saves. Andrus' 11 goals tied the Landmark Conference single-game record set by Moravian's Meaghan McMullan, ironically set against Drew on April 19, 2019. The 38 combined goals marked the most in a Susquehanna game since April 23, 2014 when SU defeated McDaniel in a 21-20 overtime marathon.
Riefenhauser moves up to 165 points on her career with 91 goals and 74 assists, while Owen's five points on the afternoon on one goal and four assists brings her numbers up to 133 points on 66 goals and 67 assists. Homberg now sits with 101 career goals.
The River Hawks are off to their best start since 2022 as they make their long-awaited return home with two pivotal Landmark matchups. It begins Thursday evening welcoming Moravian for a 5 p.m. game from Sassafras Field, followed by next Wednesday, April 3 hosting perennial conference power Catholic at 4 p.m.
