University of Richmond Athletics
No. 10 Field Hockey Reels In Conference Honors
11/04/2004 | Field Hockey
Nov. 4, 2004
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond juniors Holly Cram, Allie Howard and Michelle Swartz, along with head coach Ange Bradley were awarded individual postseason honors by the Atlantic 10 Conference Thursday afternoon.
Cram earned Richmond's fourth-consecutive A-10 Offensive Player of the Year honor. Howard, last season's Offensive Player of the Year, won the Spiders' first Defensive Player of the Year honor since the 2002 season. Bradley was named the Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in her four-year tenure at Richmond, and Swartz was selected as the A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year by the Conference's sports information directors.
Cram enters the Atlantic 10 Championship as the A-10's scoring leader in goals (25) and points (57), ranking third nationally in each category, while both marks set school records for goals and points scored in a single season. A native of Glasgow, Scotland, the junior has started all 17 games for the 10th-ranked Spiders and has scored at least one goal in 13 contests, including eight multi-goal games. She ranks second nationally with 3.35 points per game and leads the league in nine of 11 offensive categories.
Howard, the 2003 Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year and Championship's Most Outstanding Player, enjoyed a more defensive role this season and helped the Spiders to nine shutouts in 17 starts, tying the most-ever shutouts by a Richmond team. The junior midfielder from Lancaster, Pa., played every minute of every contest and led a defensive effort that limited opponents to just 12 goals on 124 shots, including just three goals on 29 shots during Conference play, helping the Spiders rank second nationally in scoring defense (0.71). She leads her team and ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in assists with eight on the season.
Joining Cram and Howard on the All-Conference first-team are teammates Laura Hur and Michelle La Force.
Hur, a senior from Chevy Chase, Md., was part of the Richmond defense that limited opponents to 12 goals on the season. She has played and started all 17 of the Spiders' matches. The midfielder has six points in 2004, on two assists and two goals.
La Force, a back from Centerville, Va., has helped the Spiders to a No. 2 national ranking in team defense, limiting opponents to 0.71 goals per game. The junior has scored one goal this season and recorded seven assists as Richmond's stick-stop on penalty corners.
Swartz is the Student-Athlete of the Year after earning Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference honors this season and last season. She started all 17 games in goal for the 10th-ranked Spiders and boasts a goals-against average of 0.67, which ranks second in the nation and set a single season school record. Her league-leading .825 save percentage also ranks second in the nation. The senior from Severna Park, Md., is a leadership studies major with a 3.73 grade point average. A two-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I National Academic Squad honoree (2002-03), Swartz has recorded nine shutouts this season and has allowed only two goals in Conference play.
Bradley, in her fourth season, receives her second Coach of the Year honor after leading Richmond to its third consecutive undefeated Conference season. Her squad is looking for its third-straight Atlantic 10 Championships title and enters the tournament ranked 10th in the nation by the NFHCA. As a team, Richmond ranks second nationally in scoring defense (0.71) and fourth nationally in scoring offense (3.88). Under her tutelage, the Spiders have made two NCAA appearances, including their first-ever at-large berth in 2003. Bradley has a career mark of 99-43 and 60-18 in her four years at Richmond.
Richmond will attempt to defend its two-consecutive Atlantic 10 Championships titles this weekend in Amherst, Mass. The top-seeded Spiders take on 4th-seeded Temple at 5 p.m. at Garber Field on the Umass campus. Second-seeded Umass will face No. 3 Saint Joseph's in the night's second semifinal at 7 p.m.