University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
North Carolina
Spider Lacrosse Knocked Out Of NCAA Tournament With 14-7 Loss At No. 6 North Carolina
05/13/2007 | Women's Lacrosse
May 13, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Richmond women's lacrosse team was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament as it dropped a 14-7 loss to the sixth-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday afternoon at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The loss to the Tar Heels (16-4) ended the Spiders' six-game winning streak, as well as their 2007 campaign. Senior Ashley Friend concluded her collegiate career leading the Spiders with two goals, while sophomore sister Mandy Friend notched a pair as well as she broke the Richmond record for most points in a season (77), which she set her rookie year (76). Senior Morghan Vahue topped off her career with one final goal, sophomore Allison Furstenburg chipped in one score and a helper and junior Zara Nematollahi also added one goal in the loss.
"The draws were obviously an issue," stated Richmond head coach Sue Murphy. "UNC dominated in a lot of categories, but we got them on the 8-meter and we finished. We have a lot to learn in this capacity, but I'm very proud of our team and especially our defense for making some really huge stops. Jackie was outstanding in goal."
Although the Tar Heels opened the game with three-straight goals in a 1:28 span, the Spiders responded with three of the next four goals to close the game to a one goal differential. UNC was then able to convert four of the final five first-half goals to take a four-goal lead going into intermission and then finished with a 6-3 run for the victory.
UNC put its first score on the board as it capitalized on a Richmond turnover and Megan Bosica found teammate Christina Juras open in front of the Spider goal at 28:09. The Tar Heels won the ensuing draw and set up the attack for Kelly Taylor, who was then fouled and converted her free position shot for a 2-0 UNC lead.
The Tarheels, who won all but two of the first half draw controls, including the following draw, continued their run as Kristen Taylor received a pass from Bosica and found the back of the net for a 3-0 lead at 26:47.
Richmond's Ashley Friend caused a turnover at midfield and set up a Spider attack, leading to her own free position goal at 25:13, the first Spider score of the afternoon. While UNC's Chrissy Rude responded with a goal off a helper from Kristen Taylor, Richmond's Mandy Friend and Vahue converted free position shots to cut UNC's lead to one (4-3).
That is as close as the Spiders would come to catching UNC. Despite the early Spider comeback efforts, the Tar Heels rattled off four-straight unanswered goals, including one from Jess Allen, Rude and back-to-back goals (her second and third) from Kelly Taylor, to pull away with a five-goal (8-3) lead with just over 11:30 remaining.
Richmond's Ashley Friend converted a free position in the final minute of the half to cut the Tar Heel lead to four before the intermission; however, UNC opened the second half with a quick goal in the first four minutes from Kristen Taylor to secure a five-goal lead.
After over six minutes of scoreless action, the Tar Heels used three more goals to expand their lead to eight (12-4). Julia Ryan notched UNC's 10th goal of the game off an assist from Bosica and Kristen Taylor netted a goal over three minutes later, rounding out her hat trick, while Kelly Renzi tallied her first score of the game to round out UNC's 4-0 second-half run.
In the Spiders' attempt to extend their season, Nematollahi found the back of the net in Richmond's first active score of the afternoon, bringing the game to 12-5; however, UNC's Juras and Ryan topped off the Tar Heel's scoring with a goal at the 6:25 and 4:59 marks. Furstenburg and Mandy Friend each netted one more Spider goal in the final 2:21 of the game, but it just was not enough to overcome the Tar Heel lead and UNC finished the game with a 14-7 victory.
Spider keeper Swansburg finished with 16 big saves between the pipes, while UNC's Kristen Hordy recorded seven saves on the other end. UNC finished with an advantage in shots (40-19) and draw controls (16-7) to take its fourth all-time win over the Spiders.
North Carolina will advance to the quarterfinals for the third-straight season, facing third-seeded Virginia (17-3) next Saturday, while Richmond (14-6), Atlantic 10 Champions and NCAA Tournament participants in each of the last three seasons, concludes its season 14-6, winning nine of its final 11 contests.
