University of Richmond Athletics
No. 20 Field Hockey Hauls In Numerous Postseason Honors; Gets Set For A-10 Tourney
11/03/2005 | Field Hockey
Nov. 3, 2005
Complete List of All-Conferenece honorees
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond seniors Whitney Wells and Allie Howard made history Thursday by being named the Atlantic 10 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, in voting conducted among the Conference's head coaches.
Wells is the fifth-straight Spider to earn the Offensive Player of the Year honor and enters the Atlantic 10 Championship with 12 goals scored, three assists and 27 total points on the season. She ranks fourth in the Conference in goals and points overall and is the league-leader with nine goals in A-10 play. Behind the strong play of Wells, Richmond's offense ranks 12th nationally in goals per game (3.17). A native of Clayton, Del., the senior has started all 18 games for the 20th-ranked Spiders and boasts career stats of 37 goals and eight assists for 82 points.
Howard becomes the first student-athlete in A-10 history to earn three straight Player of the Year awards. The senior midfielder from Lancaster, Pa., was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2003 and has now won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards. She is also the first student-athlete in A-10 history to earn consecutive Championship Most Outstanding Player honors (2003, 2004) and enters the Atlantic 10 Championship looking for a third. Her defensive unit ranks ninth nationally in scoring defense, giving up just 1.22 goals per game, and has limited A-10 opponents to just three goals in seven games. She is also a threat offensively with six goals and three assists (15 points) on the year and boasts 29 goals and 28 assists (86 points) for her career.
Joining Wells and Howard on the All-Conference first team is sophomore Shannon Taylor. Taylor leads the Richmond squad with a league-best 13 goals and 35 points on the season. Her nine assists are second-best on the squad behind senior Michelle La Force.
Spiders named to the All-Conference second team include La Force, junior Jodi Murphy and senior Michelle Swartz. La Force leads the team with 11 assists and is just one shy of equalling the Richmond career-record with 31 assists. Murphy has recorded four goals and four assists on the season and ranks fifth on the squad with 12 points. Swartz, the league-leader in goals-against average and shutouts, holds a career goals-against average of 1.25, including a Richmond record 34 career shutouts.
Senior Lesley Russell picked up honorable mention accolades after supporting a Spider defense which ranks ninth in the nation in goals-against (1.22), shutting out eight opponents in 2005.
Freshman Alex Malatesta earned All-Rookie honors after scoring five goals during the regular season. Her three-goal performance at West Chester was one of two hat tricks for the Spiders in the game, and helped mark the second nine-goal game of the season for Richmond.
Swartz was also honored for the third-straight season as part of the A-10 All-Academic squad. The Leadership Studies major, first debuted on the All-Academic squad as a sophomore and has appeared on the list ever since, picking Field Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year honors last season. She has been part the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Academic squad the past three years beginning in 2002.
The Spiders now get set to defend their three-straight A-10 Championships crowns Friday, Nov. 4, when they take on the Saint Joseph's Hawks in first round action at the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Philadelphia, Pa., at 4 p.m. Earlier this season, Richmond, which is the top-seed in the tournament for third fourth-straight year, toppled the Hawks 9-1 at Crenshaw Field. Taylor garnered three goals and two assists in the contest, while Wells garnered her second-straight multi-goal game with two goals.
In the first game of the tourney second-seeded Temple will face the third-seed UMass at 2 p.m., Nov. 4. The Championship final is slated for a 2 p.m. start Saturday, Nov. 5.