University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Lacrosse Finishes Regular Season at VMI Sat.
04/25/2014 | Men's Lacrosse
Richmond men's lacrosse will finish their inaugural regular season Saturday, with a noon game at Atlantic Sun Conference opponent VMI. Richmond is 4-9 overall, 2-2 in the Atlantic Sun. The Spiders are 4-4 in their last eight contests. VMI is the lone winless team in the conference, at 1-12 overall, 0-4 in league games. Emotions will be high for the Keydets on Senior Day. They will honor their seniors in a ceremony at the game, including team manager Eric Alter, who tragically passed away on Tuesday.
The Spiders, which qualified for the ASun Tournament with a home win over Jacksonville last weekend, can lock up the third seed in the tournament with a win or a Jacksonville loss on Saturday. The Dolphins are at Furman at noon Saturday with that game determining the final team into the tournament, which will take place next Thursday and Saturday at Mercer in Macon, Ga.
The Spiders winning ways can be traced to their defense and goaltending. The Spiders lead the league in caused turnovers per game, at 9.54, which is eighth-best in the country as of Monday's NCAA Statistical release. Brendan Hynes (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Ryan Dennis (Peapack Gladstone, N.J.) are both ranked in the Top 10 in caused turnovers individually in the nation.
Goalie Benny Pugh (Powhatan, Va. / Woodberry Forest School) has also turned up the production with a .528 save percentage in those last eight games. For the season, he has 105 saves and is tied for third in the league with a .510 save percentage overall.
VMI is near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories except for penalties, caused turnovers and ground balls. VMI ranks second behind Richmond in caused turnovers, with 8.46 per contest. The Keydets average 28.9 ground balls per game, third in the league (behind High Point and Richmond) and average less than three penalty minutes per game, the second fewest in conference.
VMI's lone win came at home over Air Force, 6-4. It was the second-fewest total of goals in a win in program history and tied for the lowest winning goal total in Division I this season.
Seedings and times for the ASun Tournament will be announced on Saturday after the final two league games take place.
