University of Richmond Athletics
Seven Spiders Earn All-Conference Honors
04/24/2008 | Women's Lacrosse
April 24, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Junior Mandy Friend was named the Atlantic 10's Midfielder of the Year while classmate Allison Furstenburg was named Offensive Player of the Year. Freshman Anne Ryan, who was named Rookie of the Week for two-straight weeks has been crowned Rookie of the Year.
Along with Friend and Furstenburg, senior captain Samantha Tract earned First Team All-Conference while Jules Nicola and Claire Cunniff was also honored for her hard work in the classroom making the All-Academic team for the third-straight year.
2008 is the first year the Atlantic 10 has named a Midfielder of the Year. Mandy Friend was named Co-Offensive Player in 2007. Friend has had an outstanding year so far for the Spiders. The native of Canandaigua, N.Y. has set new single-season records for Richmond in points, assists, draw controls and caused turnovers with 86, 35, 73 and 38 respectively.
Friend is a two-time All-American and is making her third-straight appearance on the A-10's First Team All-Conference. She was also named the conference's Player of the Week three times this season.
Allison Furstenburg leads the Spiders in goals with 53 goals and is second on the team with 80 overall points, which is the second most points in a single-season behind Friend's 86 on 2008. Furstenburg was named Player of the Week once this season, back in March. This is the first time Furstenburg has earned First Team honors after making Second Team All-Conference in 2007.
Freshman Anne Ryan was named Rookie of the Week two times this past season, she is fifth on the Richmond squad in scoring with 20 goals. Ryan has been a consistent midfielder for the Spiders as she earns the top rookie honor handed out by the A-10.
Senior captain Samantha Tract joins teammates Furstenburg and Friend on the First Team for the second time in her career. Tract earned the same honor in 2006 as a sophomore for the Spiders. The defender out of Wayne, Pa. is second on the team in caused turnovers with 23.
Also joining Ryan on the rookie squad is defender Jules Nicola. Although Eulitt has missed the second half of the season for the Spiders due to a knee injury, her impact made in the beginning of the season was enough to garner a conference honor. Nicola, who is sixth on the team with 18 goals, earned one Rookie of the Week honor in March.
Claire Cunniff, who was recently honored with the Presidential Award handed out by the University of Richmond, has the highest GPA out of all senior women student-athletes at Richmond. The biology major has also made a big impact on the field this year for Richmond. She is fourth on the team with 21 goals and 11 assists for 32 points. The native of Catonsville, Md. is planning to attend medical school at the University of Maryland in the fall.