University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Hofstra
Blythe-Wood Nets Two As Spiders Win Season Opener Over Hofstra
08/25/2007 | Field Hockey
Aug. 25, 2007
Box Score |
Photos 
| Photos | SpiderTV Wrap-Up 
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Two goals from sophomore Sarah Blythe-Wood and one from freshman Sara Reese gave the Richmond field hockey a 3-2 season-opening victory over Hofstra on Saturday in the Spider Classic at Crenshaw Field.
Richmond head coach Gina Lucido picked up her first win in her first game as a Division I head coach as the Spiders jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then held on for the win.
"I'm so pleased with their performance today," Lucido said. "This was a great game, Hofstra came after us. It was really well played by both teams. It's growth, we found a way to get the win and I couldn't ask more of them. They were excellent women today."
Richmond plays for the Spider Classic title on Sunday at 2 p.m. against No. 16 ranked American, which defeated Radford 5-1 in the second game Saturday.
"American is very talented and incredibly well coached," Lucido said. "We're going to fine tune some things tonight and just give everything we have for 70 minutes, and we'll see what the scoreboard says when it's all said and done."
Reese gave the Spiders the early lead when she beat the keeper from in front of the goal just 3:27 into the game.
"I think we all worked together and really came out with intensity to find the opportunity to finish," Reese said.
Blythe-Wood made it 2-0 in the 48th minute on a back-handed shot that beat a charging Hofstra keeper. Red-shirt freshmen Dani Pycroft had blasted a pass from outside the circle to set that goal up.
Blythe-Wood was back at it less than three minutes later when she scored on a penalty corner off assists from Becky White and Tara Kelly with 21:40 remaining.
"It's great to get two goals to open up the season," Blythe-Wood said. "The team really came out and performed today as a whole. It was great, we had good team energy and enthusiasm for 70 minutes of hockey."
Hofstra scored their first goal on a penalty shot by Ayanna McClean with 17 minutes to play and closed the gap to 3-2 on a goal by Ashleigh Daniels with 4:07 left in the game on a penalty corner.
The two teams each took 16 shots. Richmond junior goalkeeper Becca Weaver made five saves in a scoreless first half. Sophomore Jacki Raithel had five saves in the second half.
No. 16 ranked American defeated Radford 5-1 in the second game Saturday. Denise Infante had two goals and an assist for American (1-0). Irene Schickhardt, Savannah Graybill and Emily Stovicek also scored for the Eagles. Erica Lawrence scored the goal for Radford (0-1).
Radford and Hofstra will play in the first game at 11 a.m., followed by the Spiders and American at 2 p.m. Both games can be viewed live on the internet at RichmondSpiders.com.
