University of Richmond Athletics
Friend Sisters Named Lacrosse Preseason All-Americans
02/16/2007 | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 16, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond lacrosse sisters Mandy and Ashley Friend were named preseason All-Americans for the 2007 season, as released by Inside Lacrosse earlier today. Sophomore Ashley Friend was selected to the third team, both honored as two of the top 48 players in the country.
The sister act coming out of Canandaigua, N.Y. combined for total of five goals and three assists in the Spiders' preseason win over the England National Team.
Ashley Friend, a senior midfielder for the Spiders, has started every game since her freshman year, racking up 97 goals, including last year's personal-best 47 goals and 12 assists. Ashley is coming off a standout season, in which she scored in all but three games, recording eight hat tricks, including one in the Spiders' win over national runner-up Virginia (3/4), when she scored the Spiders' last three goals to secure the one-goal victory.
The Inside Lacrosse Honorable Mention and two-time A-10 Player of the Week posted three five-goal performances and led team with 27 caused turnovers and four game-winning goals. Her 47 goals ranks her fourth in the program record book for most goals in a season and she concluded the 2006 season ninth in the league for goals, eighth for points, second for game-winning goals and fourth for caused turnovers and shots. Rounding out her junior year accomplishments, Friend was named to the A-10 All Conference first team, the A-10 Championship team and the IWLCA Division I All-Regional and VaSID second teams.
Sister and sophomore Mandy Friend joined Richmond last year as the only freshman to start all 20 contests. The Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week and five-time Rookie of the Week finished second on the team with 53 goals and 23 assists for 76 points, setting a new program record for most points in a season and ranking her second in the record book for goals in a single season. She posted 11 hat tricks on the year, including one over No. 2 Duke and No. 6 Maryland, as well as two five-goal performances, in addition to recording 48 draw controls, tying the single season record.
After finishing second in the league for game-winning goals (four), third for points, fifth for goals and draw controls, sixth for assists and ninth for shots, Mandy was named an IWLCA/US Lacrosse Third Team All-American and Rookie All-American, in addition to being selected to the IWLCA All-Regional first team, the A-10 Championship Team, the A-10 All-Conference and VaSID first teams, as well as being named the A-10 Rookie of the Year.
See the Friends and the Spiders in action in their home opener on Sunday at First Market Stadium as they host Virginia Tech at 1:00 p.m. Live coverage will be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
