University of Richmond Athletics
No. 20 Women's Lacrosse Hosts George Washington In A-10 Opener Sunday
03/31/2007 | Women's Lacrosse
March 31, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The No. 20 University of Richmond women's lacrosse team will host the George Washington Colonials on Sunday afternoon in both team's Atlantic 10 openers. Opening draw is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at First Market Stadium.
Scouting The Spiders: The Spiders (6-4) have won three of their last four games and will look to capture their second straight win on Sunday. Sophomore All-American Mandy Friend (32 goals) and sophomore transfer Allison Furstenburg (26 goals and nine assists) lead the Spiders' attack, while seniors Ashley Friend (16 goals and nine assists and Morghan Vahue (16 goals) balance out Richmond's forefront.
Last Time Out: The Spiders are coming off a dominating 17-10 victory over Old Dominion on Thursday afternoon at First Market Stadium where Furstenburg and Mandy Friend each delivered four-goal performances to lead the Spiders to their fourth-straight win over the Lady Monarchs.
The Spiders also received a hat trick from senior Ashley Friend, her third of the season, as well as two goals apiece from Vahue and junior Erin Kennedy. Sophomore Katy Smullen and junior Claire Cunniff each chipped in one goal.
Leading The A-10 And The Nation: Mandy Friend places in five statistical categories in the league, including leading the A-10 in game-winning goals (two), ranking second in goals (3.11/game), third for draw controls (2.78/game), fourth for shots (6.22/game) and sixth for points (3.56/game). Sister Ashley Friend ranks fifth for assists, putting in 1.00/game, while Furstenburg ranks ninth for both goals (2.44/game) and points (3.33/game) and eighth for assists (0.89/game) and Jackie Swansburg leads the conference between the pipes in save percentage (.547), saves per game (10.44) and GAA (8.64).
Mandy Friend also ranks 22nd in the nation for goals per game and 27th for draw controls, while Swansburg ranks 7th for save percentage and 10th for GAA.
Scouting The Colonials: The Colonials (4-4) are coming off an 11-8 victory over William and Mary on Friday afternoon at Mount Vernon Field after storming out to a 6-3 first-half lead and withstanding a second-half rally to defeat the Tribe. Junior Kristin Karcsh led GW with two goals and two assists and classmate Katelyn Honeyford tallied twice and added an assist as the Colonials evened the series record with the Tribe at 2-2.
George Washington, led by Karcsh (24 goals) and Kristina Harvey (12 goals), returns 16 letterwinners, including eight starters from last year's squad that posted a 6-11 record and finished sixth in the A-10 with a 2-5 mark.
The Series: The Spiders own a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series after taking a 16-14 win in last year's meeting in Washington, D.C. Mandy Friend both notched four goals, while Vahue added two goals and sophomore Samantha Tract scored one. Swansburg finished the contest with 14 saves for the Spiders in goal.
Up Next: Following Sunday's contest, the Spiders will prepare for a three-game road swing, beginning in Philadelphia, Pa. with Saint Joseph's on April 6.
