University of Richmond Athletics
Field Hockey 2004 Season Review
01/14/2005 | Field Hockey
Jan. 14, 2005
The 2004 Richmond Field Hockey season was another success under fourth year head coach Ange Bradley. The Spiders tied a school record for wins in a season (18), broke the Spider single-season record for team goals (79), limited opponents to just 16 goals in 21 matches and earned their third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
All kinds of success and Richmond will only lose two seniors off the 2004 squad. Seniors Laura Hur, an All-Conference selection, and Danica Haupt combined to play in a total of 32 games this season and garnered a combined total of three goals and two assists.
Richmond got the season started with a 12-0 win over Monmouth, eclipsing the school record for goals in a game. Junior newcomer Holly Cram netted four for the Spiders while freshmen Tara Kelly and Shannon Taylor scored three and two goals, respectively.
The Spiders rattled off four more consecutive wins on their way to a national rank of No. 11. After a win at home over No. 10 Virginia, Richmond dropped two of its next three to nationally ranked American (No. 13) and Old Dominion (No. 8). Bradley got her team to rebound winning the next 12 straight on its way to the NCAA Tournament Field of 16 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The streak included six-straight over regular season conference opponents, sweeping the A-10 Tournament in Amherst, Mass., and an NCAA Play-In win over visiting Rider.
The Spiders went 7-0 at home in 2004 and captured their third consecutive A-10 title. Richmond also extended win streaks in the conference to 19 and 24. The Spiders have now won 19 straight regular season A-10 games dating back to the 2001 campaign. The 24-game streak includes all A-10 Tournament games and regular season contests since 2002.
After Richmond topped Rider, 6-0, at Crenshaw Field in the NCAA Play-In match, it moved on to face the top-ranked and top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Spiders recorded only two shots on goal and fell to a tough Tar Heel team, 3-0, which praised the efforts of Bradley's Spiders.
"I'm proud of the team effort (North Carolina) displayed today against a very strong and well-coached Richmond team," UNC head coach Karen Shelton said. "Today's victory wasn't easily won - we had to earn it."
The 2004 Spiders earned a mark of 18-3 overall and 6-0 in the conference. Individually, Richmond was no stranger to accolades. During the regular season Richmond garnered an impressive 12 weekly honors. Cram led the race with four A-10 Player of the Week honors, including a string of three-straight (Oct. 11-25). Taylor came in second with three Rookie of the Week honors, including a two-week streak (Sept. 13-20) and four other players picked up at least one weekly accolade from the conference office.
Prior to the Atlantic 10 Championships Cram garnered yet another honor by being named the A-10 Offensive Player of the Year. Junior Allie Howard was selected as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Junior Michelle Swartz was awarded the A-10 Field Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year Award and Bradley, who earned her 100th career victory during the A-10 Championships, was selected as the A-10 Coach of the Year for the second time in four years. Hur and junior Michelle La Force were also named to the All-Conference first team with Cram and Howard.
Following the A-10 Championships five players were named to the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament team: Cram, Howard, La Force and juniors Lesley Russell and Whitney Wells. Cram and Howard were also honored following the season with All-Region and All-America honors from the STX/NFHCA. Both were part of the First Team All-South Region team then Howard garnered Second Team All-America honors while Cram was named a Third Team All-American. At the conclusion of the season three athletes were named to the VaSID All-State team in Howard, Cram and Swartz, marking the first time ever more than two Spiders have been placed on the VaSID list.
