Richmond Downs Davidson, 2-1, In A-10 Semifinal

Friday, November 6

Philadelphia, Pa.

2:00 PM

University of Richmond

(8-11)

Davidson

(12-8)

Davidson

RICHMOND

11/07/2015 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Richmond Athletics

MERION STATION, Pa. – The top-seeded Spider field hockey team broke a halftime tie with relentless second-half pressure and a game-winning goal from Taylor Deitrick to win the Atlantic 10 Semifinal game, 2-1, over Davidson.

Richmond (12-8) will play second-seeded Massachusetts in the championship final, the fourth straight year the two teams have played for the conference title. UMass and Richmond are the only two teams to have won an Atlantic 10 title since 1996, a streak that will continue this year.

Deitrick's unassisted game-winner came on a rebound following a save by Davidson keeper Emily Leytham. Deitrick nudged the deflection toward the goal and the slow roller trickled into the cage out of Leytham's reach for the score, igniting the Spider contingent.

“I knew that today was going to be a matter of the heart,” head coach Gina Lucido said. “We stuck to the game plan. We stayed determined. Taylor Deitrick is a senior and did what we needed. She just found a way to get that ball into the net and that's what we needed in that second half.”

Each team tallied a goal in the first half with Davidson striking first on a penalty corner goal by Katherine English. Anna Davis and Hannah Fisher assisted on the score that put the Wildcats up 1-0 in the 18^th minute.

Richmond evened the score up 11 minutes later on a pass by Thalia Williamson from the corner to Amy Cooke, who scored the equalizer at 28:30. It was Cooke's fourth goal of the season, as she was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday.

UR outshot the Wildcats, 17-3, with 12 of those shots coming in Richmond's relentless second-half attack. Davidson's Leytham made nine saves, including eight in the second half, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Spider attack.

The defending Atlantic 10 champions, Richmond will be looking for its first back-to-back A-10 tournament titles since head coach Gina Lucido has been at the helm. The title game will be played Saturday at 2:00 pm with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament.