No. 1 Spiders Look For Fourth-Straight A-10 Title
04/23/2008 | Women's Lacrosse
April 23, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The women's lacrosse team, 6-1 in Atlantic 10 play, opens A-10 Tournament action today against fourth-seeded and host UMass at 1 p.m. The three-time defending league champion Spiders defeated the Minutewomen, 17-12, at Richmond during the regular season. This is the third straight year the Spiders have been the No. 1 seed at the tournament and third year Richmond has earned a regular season title.
Richmond secured the top-seed with a 6-1 record in A-10 play. Since the Spiders beat Temple in the regular season, they were able to take the No. 1 spot even though the No. 2 Owls also finished 6-1. Both teams took a share of the 2008 Atlantic 10 regular season crown.
Last week the Spiders went 1-1. George Washington handed Richmond its first A-10 loss in 2008 scoring with under 20 seconds to play to win 11-10. Over the weekend, the Spiders endured rain and thunder to take down Saint Joseph's on senior day, 13-9.
Junior Mandy Friend was named A-10 Player of the Week for the second straight time this week after putting up huge numbers against GW and SJU. Friend scored six goals and added three assists for nine points against the Hawks and also picked up six caused turnovers, eight ground balls and five draw controls.
The Minutewomen have not made the Atlantic 10 Championships since 2006 where the No. 1 Spiders defeated No. 4 UMass in the semi-finals at George Washington's Mount Vernon Sports Complex.
UMass opened its 2008 A-10 schedule in Richmond, Va. where the Spiders earned the 17-12 victory. Since then, the Minutewomen have dropped two more conference games to third-seed Duquesne and second-seed Temple.
Kaytlin McCormick leads the Minutewomen heading into this weekend's tournament with 33 goals and 10 assists for 43 points. McCormick recorded a hat trick and an assist earlier in the year against Richmond.
Junior Mandy Friend is a two-time All- American, a two-time All-Conference first-team selection, the reiging A-10 Offensive Player of the Year, the A-10 Championship's Most Oustanding Player and the A-10 Player of the Week. Since joining the Spiders in 2006, Mandy has set a new standard for the Richmond program. In 2007 she set new records for both single-season points and goals with 77 and 62 respectively.
So far in 2008, she has recorded 86 points (a new school record) and 51 goals. She has also set a new record in single-season assists with 35; Richmond alum, Polly Purcell held the previous record of 30. Friend has also set new heights on the defensive end with 38 caused turnovers in one season, the record was set at 34 by Jen Cielewich in 2002. The midfielder's presence has also been felt around the draw circle picking up an astounding 73 draw controls in 2008, surpassing her previous record of 48 set in 2006.
Junior transfer Allison Furstenburg has definitely left her mark as a Richmond Spider after transferring in the fall of 2006 from Syracuse University. The native of Whitehouse Station, N.J. played her freshman year (2005) at SU before deciding to change schools.
Since coming to Richmond, Furstenburg has made a tremendous impact on the program. Her flashy yet effective stick work and quickness have helped her put in a team high 53 goals so far in 2008. In 2007, Furstenburg was second on the team in scoring behind Mandy Friend with 49 goals in the team's 20 games.
Head coach Sue Murphy returns to her alma mater to lead the Spiders in the 2008 A-10 Championship. Murphy was a standout All-American selection for the Minutewomen's lacrosse team from 1987-90.
Murphy is 7-2 in A-10 tournament play, going 2-0 for the past three years at the championship. In 2003, Richmond fell in the semi-final game against UMass at Temple University and in 2002, Murphy's first year at Richmond, the Spiders advanced to the finals but were unable to walk away with the title.
No. 2 Temple will take on No. 3 Duquesne in the second semi-final game on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The 2008 Championship game is set for Sunday, April 27 at 1 p.m. ET.