University of Richmond Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Faces UMass Sunday
04/13/2007 | Women's Lacrosse
April 13, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - After taking a week off from competition, the Richmond women's lacrosse team will face Massachusetts in an A-10 Sunday afternoon match-up at McGuirk Stadium. Opening draw with the Minutewomen is set for a newly scheduled time of 11:00 a.m.
Scouting The Spiders: The Spiders (8-5) have won three of their last four games and will look to jump back on the winning track with a win over UMass on Sunday. Sophomore All-American Mandy Friend (40 goals and eight assists) and sophomore transfer Allison Furstenburg (33 goals and nine assists) lead the Spiders' attack, while seniors Ashley Friend (20 goals and 11 assists and Morghan Vahue (18 goals) balance out Richmond's forefront.
Last Time Out: The Spiders are coming off a 9-8 goal shortfall at Temple on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, their first loss in four games. Despite a four goal performance by both Mandy Friend and Allison Furstenburg and a 7-2 lead at the beginning of the second half, the Owls poured in seven of the last eight goals for the comeback victory and the first win over the Spiders in the last five meetings.
Return To The Alma Mater: Sunday will mark the return of Richmond's head coach Sue Murphy to UMass where she was a standout lacrosse player graduating in 1990. The two-time All-American earned team MVP honors and finished her stellar career as the school's all-time leading scorer, now ranking second in the school's record book.
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 (three), ranking third in goals (3.08/game), fourth for draw controls (2.31/game), fifth for points (3.69/game) and shots (5.92/game). Sister Ashley Friend ranks sixth for assists, putting in 0.85/game, while Furstenburg ranks eighth for goals (2.54/game), ninth for points (3.23/game) and tenth for shots (5.23/game), and Jackie Swansburg leads the conference between the pipes in save percentage (.532) and GAA (8.40) and ranks second for saves per game (9.62).
Mandy Friend also ranks 19th in the nation for goals per game, while Swansburg ranks 9th for both save percentage and GAA.
Scouting The Minutewomen: UMass (5-7, 0-2 in A-10) has dropped four of its last five contests and is coming off a 10-7 setback to George Washington on Sunday afternoon in A-10 action. Leading attack Kathleen Typadis (34 goals) led the Minutewomen with two goals and an assist. UMass senior goalkeeper Lauren McCarthy did her best to keep the Minutewomen in the game making 10 saves and having career highs in both groundballs (7) and caused turnovers (2).
Last Meeting: The Spiders have won the last four meetings between the two teams, including last year's 10-5 win over the Minutewomen in the A-10 semifinals in Washington, D.C. Mandy Friend scored two, and Vahue, Ashley Friend, Jackie Swansburg finished the contest with 10 saves in goal for the Spiders after facing 18 shots.
Up Next: Following Sunday's contest, the Spiders will round out their season with a three-game home stand, beginning with La Salle on Sunday, April 22 at 1:00 p.m. at First Market Stadium. Follow the Spiders at RichmondSpiders.com.