University of Richmond Athletics
Lacrosse Going For Third-Straight A-10 Championship
05/02/2007 | Women's Lacrosse
May 2, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - After being crowned Atlantic 10 regular season Co-Champions this past weekend, the Richmond women's lacrosse team will head to Philadelphia, Pa. in hopes of capturing its third-straight A-10 Championship Friday and Sunday, May 4-6. The top-seeded Spiders will begin tournament action with fourth-seeded Temple on Friday at 1:00 p.m. at Geasey Field on the campus of Temple University.
TOP SEED: Richmond (12-5/6-1 in A-10) enters the Championship as the league's top seed after earning a share of its second-straight Atlantic 10 regular season title. The two-time defending A-10 Champions finished the regular season tied with George Washington at 6-1 in league play but defeated the Colonials, 10-7, during the regular season to earn the No. 1 seed.
SEEKING REVENGE: The Spiders will meet the Owls for the second time this season. Temple (6-10/4-3 A-10), the one A-10 opponent able to knock down the Spiders in the regular season, won four straight A-10 Championship titles from 2001-04 and has made an appearance in every Championship since the postseason tournament began in 1999.
The teams last met on April 8 when the Owls narrowly defeated the Spiders, 9-8, despite a 7-2 Richmond lead three minutes into the second half and four-goal performances by both Mandy Friend and Allison Furstenburg. Temple poured in seven of the last eight goals for the comeback victory and the first win over the Spiders in the last five meetings.
LAST TIME OUT: The Spiders are coming off a 12-9 senior day victory where senior Ashley Friend delivered a six-goal performance leading Richmond to a win over Duquesne Sunday at First Market Stadium. Ashley's six goals was a career-high performance and her sixth hat trick of the season. She also added two helpers as the Spiders, winners of seven of their last eight contests, earned their third-straight win over the Dukes (7-10, 2-5 A-10).
Senior Mandy Friend rounded out the Spider scoring with one goal apiece. Jenna Hubbard assisted on two Richmond goals, and Furstenburg and Zara Nematollahi added one helper apiece.
Although the Spiders jumped to an early 4-1 advantage, the Dukes hit a run and knotted the game, forcing a see-saw battle until four-straight goals by Ashley Friend, including the eventual game-winner, lifted the Spiders to victory.
IN OTHER ACTION: In the other semifinal game on Friday, second-seeded George Washington (10-6, 6-1 A-10) will face third-seeded St. Bonaventure (8-6/5-2 A-10) at 3:30 pm. The semifinal winners will meet in the Championship game at 3:00 pm (EST) on Sunday, May 6, which will be nationally televised by CSTV.
ON CSTV NATIONAL TELEVISION: This is the first time in league history that the Conference's women's lacrosse championship will be televised. CSTV is available on Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Adelphia and Insight cable systems, among others, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610) and DISH Network (Channel 152).
BATTLE FOR AUTOMATIC BERTH TO NCAA's: The top four teams from regular season play qualified to participate in the Championship and the Atlantic 10 champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship.
TICKETS: Tickets are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children and students and will be sold at the entrance to Geasey Field.
FOLLOW THE SPIDERS: Follow the Spiders through the Championships at RichmondSpiders.com, or for complete results, log onto the leagues' website at Atlantic 10.
