Field Hockey Looks To End Season With Eighth-Straight Win
10/28/2005 | Field Hockey
Oct. 28, 2005
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Spider field hockey squad, already crowned the A-10 regular season champion, will be looking to extend its win streak against A-10 competition to 31-straight this weekend when it travels to St. Louis, Mo. Richmond will face Saint Louis, Sunday, Oct. 30 in its final regular season contest of 2005. The Spiders are 12-5 overall and 6-0 in the A-10 going into the weekend, while the Billikens are 7-10 overall and 3-3 in league play.
A Spider win this weekend will up several win streaks including, 31-straight against all A-10 opponents, 26-straight against the A-10 in the regular season, seven-straight against the A-10 in 2005 and eight-straight to end the season. Saint Louis is currently in a tie for third in the conference standings with Massachusetts and Saint Joseph's, and needs a win to stay in contention for a berth in the A-10 Championships.
Sophomore Shannon Taylor leads the squad with 33 points on 12 goals and nine assists. Taylor's 33 total points rank 13th in the nation and her 2.06 point-per-game average is 12th-best in the country. Her 12 goals place her 19th in country, while her per game average of 0.81 is 14th best in the nation.
Senior Michelle Swartz has limited A-10 opponents to just three goals on 27 shots in 2005. Her 0.62 goals-against average in the league is more than one goal better than Amy Wasserman's GAA of 1.17 at Saint Louis, in second place. Swartz also has an overall goals-against average of 1.34, which ranks 14th in the country.
The Spiders will be facing A-10 newcomer Saint Louis for only the third time since 1993. Richmond holds a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series, and has outscored the Billikens 4-2 in those two games. The last meeting was in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 15, 1995, when the Spiders won 3-2.
Following the weekend the Spiders will await to find out who they will meet in the first round of the A-10 Championships in Philadelphia, Pa. Tournament semifinal action will begin Nov. 4, with the championship final played Nov. 5.