Women's Lacrosse: Late Season Success
04/22/2005 | Women's Lacrosse
April 22, 2005
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - After opening the season with a 0-4 mark, including lopsided losses to three nationally-ranked teams, the University of Richmond women's lacrosse team was in desperate need of a win. The young team, with just three seniors, had to understand that the lessons learned from those first contests would pay off in the future but when three of the next five games ended in defeat, some started to question when the positive results would be seen.
"In the past, we've had seasons when we've started out in similar fashions. However, we are now competing closer to those top-ranked teams and one day, we will upset them. We've learned from our mistakes and look for the positives within each game to improve our team," head coach Sue Murphy commented. "It is not easy to have a losing record in March and try to turn it around in April, but we expect to win certain games in April and get back in the conference tournament."
And the Spiders have seen quite the turnaround in their last games with three straight conference victories, starting with their win over St. Bonaventure on April 10 and continuing with last weekend's victories over nationally-ranked Temple and Saint Joseph's.
"Our early losses were tough for us mentally, but we began to see how tough our team could be when we played Duquesne and fought back in the end. It felt like with a couple of extra minutes we could have stolen the win," junior Jackie Swansburg stated. "Deep down everyone knew we were better than we were playing, and through tough practice, mentally and physically, our skills started to shine through in our St. Bonaventure game, which was our first conference win."
"We knew that clutch time for us would be in the month of April," senior Kristen Habicht explained. "I think that everyone kept their heads up because in most of those losses we had a lot of promising moments that we knew would develop as we kept playing."
Throughout the first nine games, Richmond averaged just 7.6 goals per game and scored six or less goals in five contests. In the last three wins, the Spiders have upped that average to 10.3 per contest and tallied a season-best 15 goals against the Hawks.
Much of that scoring improvement can be contributed to members of the Spiders' offensive attack learning their new roles after the graduation of last year's top two scorers.
Junior Kristen Habicht currently lead the Spiders in scoring, tallying 28 and 24 goals, respectively.
Additionally, Richmond's defensive unit has shown marked improvement since the start of the season.
"I have been most impressed with Jackie (Swansburg) in the goal and our defensive players," Murphy said. "Jackie has improved so much during the season and is coming off some great games. She is assisted by a strong defensive unit consisting of steady starters Allison Nuzzi, Jodi Brown, Samantha Tract and Erin Kennedy."
Swansburg's progress is evident by looking at her season statistics. Her goals against average has continued to drop, from a 15.00 after the first four games, down to a 12.71 against the non-conference slate, to a 11.00 after two Atlantic 10 games and is currently at 10.83. In the Spiders' three conference wins, she has posted a GAA of 6.33.
With two Atlantic 10 opponents remaining, the Spiders are currently in fourth place in the conference and in position to qualify for the upcoming championships as the top four teams advance.
"I believe that the team will come with the wins that they need to secure a spot in the tournament," Murphy stated. "Our goal from the beginning of the season has been to be in a position to play for an NCAA berth."