University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
George Washington
Women's Lacrosse Captures Third-Straight A-10 Championship With 15-7 Win Over George Washington
05/06/2007 | Women's Lacrosse
May 6, 2007
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The A-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Performer Mandy Friend notched an A-10 Championship game record-tying six goals to lead the top-seeded Richmond women's lacrosse team to its third-straight A-10 Championship with a 15-7 win over second-seeded George Washington Sunday afternoon at Geasy Field in Philadelphia, Pa. With the win, the Spiders (14-5, 6-1 A-10) earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year.
While Friend tied the a championship record while putting in her 12th hat trick of the season, she also scored her 60th goal of the season to set a new Richmond record, previously owned by 2006 graduate Caroline McGuire (59). This also marked the third-straight Championship that a Richmond player earned Most Outstanding Performer honors, with McGuire racking up the honor the two previous years.
Sophomore Allison Furstenburg and junior Claire Cunniff, both of whom joined Friend on the All-Championship Team, added hat tricks in the win. Furstenburg, with her 10th hat trick, also added four helpers, while Cunniff added two as the Spiders took their sixth-straight win and ninth in the last 10 games.
Rounding out the scoring for the Spiders was junior Jenna Hubbard with two tallies and two assists and Lexie Marrocco with one score and a helper.
The Spiders won the opening draw, but the Colonials came up with a big stop on the defensive end and transitioned for an attack to score on their first possession. Freshman Taylor Donahue received a quick pass from Kristin Karsch in front of the goal to give George Washington a 1-0 lead at the 27:23 mark.
Less than six minutes later, Furstenburg passed off a free position shot to Mandy Friend who found the back of the net to tie the game, 1-1. Friend got a hold of a loose rebound from a missed shot and found the back of the net once again just over three minutes later for the Spiders' first lead (2-1) of the title game.
The Colonials' Lindsay Melvin was able to find an opening in the Spiders' defense at 14:53 to once again bring the game to knot (2-2); however, after senior Morghan Vahue went down with an ankle injury, Richmond rattled off five of the next six goals over the final 10:31 of the half to take a 7-3 lead heading into intermission.
Furstenburg jump started the Spiders' run, converting a free position shot before Cunniff found the back of the net off a helper from Hubbard. Katelyn Honmeyford snuck in a George Washington goal before Richmond would embark on a 5-0 run that extended into the first eight minutes of the second half.
The Spider run, including a pair of goals each from Mandy Friend and Hubbard, as well as one from Furstenburg, lifted Richmond to a 9-3 advantage, tripling the Colonials score.
George Washington responded with three-straight goals in a last attempt at their first ever title; however, Richmond closed out the game with six of the last seven goals, including two more from Mandy Friend and Cunniff and one more from Furstenburg and one tally from Marrocco, giving the Spiders a win over the Colonials in the teams' first ever meeting in the Championships.
All-Championship team keeper Jackie Swansburg came up with nine stops between the pipes, while Caitlin Garman recorded seven on the other end.
Richmond concluded the contest with an advantage in both draw controls (15-9) and shots (35-21) and an A-10 Championship record for most points (24) in a game.
Spider seniors Mandy Friend, Cunniff, Swansburg and Furstenburg on the All-Championship squad.
The Spiders will continue their season with NCAA's, finding out their opponent tomorrow evening during the NCAA selection show webcast at 8:00 p.m.
