University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
11-4
Furman (Semifinal)
4-9
Spiders Survive SoCon Semifinal Thursday, 8-7
04/30/2015 | Men's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Sophomore faceoff specialist Peter Moran (Reston, Virginia / South Lakes HS) won 16 of the 19 faceoffs to help the top-seed and host Richmond Spiders control tempo and win over fourth-seeded Furman 8-7 in the first-ever Southern Conference Championship semifinal Thursday afternoon at Robins Stadium.
The Spiders improve to 11-4, winners of a school-record five straight games and advance to take on High Point in the Championship game Saturday at 2 p.m. The Spiders won the regular seson meeting, 20-9.
Richmond and Furman traded goals to a two-all tie until the Spider scored the last three goals of the half, including two in the minute for a 5-2 halftime edge. Sophomore J.P. Forester (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) scored just 18 seconds into the contest and also with 27 second remaining in the second quarter for two of his game-high-tying three goals.
Redshirt senior Mickey Hofmeister (Williamsburg, Virginia / Jamestown HS) and redshirt junior Alex Hatem (Syracuse, New York) added two goals each for the Spiders.
SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Brendan Hynes (Mahopac, New York) picked up eight ground balls and caused two turnovers to pace the defense, which held Furman's leading scorer without a goal.
Furman (4-9) got a hat trick from Robbie Betchley in the loss with four other Paladins adding a single goal in the game. The Paladins' goalie and SoCon Freshman of the Year, Reilly McDermott, recorded a career-high 17 saves while allowing just eight goals. Furman held the Spiders to exactly eight goals in both games this season, both their lowest totals against a SoCon foe this season.
The Paladins were able to score the final three goals of the game to pull back in it, but sophomore and First-Team All-SoCon goalie Benny Pugh (Powhatan, Virginia / Woodberry Forest School) made two saves on three Paladins shots in the last two minutes to secure the victory and push himself and the Spiders to 11 wins, the most for a second-year program since the new wave of teams came into Division I lacrosse in 2000.
The Spiders' hustle showed in the final stats, with 37 ground balls to Furman's 22 and 51 shots to the Paladins' 32. The 51 shots was one shy of the school record, set earlier this year against VMI.The Spiders will square off against High Point at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the league's first title game. Richmond beat High Point 8-7 in last year's Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, a first for a first-year program. Saturday's winner captures the automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
