Field Hockey Returns Home With Another Tough Weekend
09/24/2015 | Field Hockey
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond field hockey team will play a pair of non-conference games this weekend against an arch-rival and a nationally-ranked squad.
The Spiders (4-4) will travel to rival William & Mary (4-4) on Friday at 6 p.m., before returning home to face No. 12 Delaware (8-0) on Sunday at noon at Crenshaw Field.
Richmond is coming off a fantastic weekend of play, knocking off conference contenders Lock Haven and No. 20 UMass on the road to grab an early lead in the conference standings. The Spiders shut out Lock Haven, 1-0, and defeated the Minutewomen, 2-1, in double overtime in a pair of fantastic defensive performances.
UR's Kelly Quinn earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors after she scored the game-winning goal with less than two minutes left in the second overtime at UMass. With three goals on the season, Quinn currently leads the Spiders.
The Spiders' strong road schedule, including four games against Top 20 teams, has Richmond ranked 15th in the latest NCAA RPI numbers. Richmond will have a chance to improve that ranking even more with Friday's road test at William & Mary (RPI: 28) and Sunday's home bout with the Blue Hens (RPI: 11).
SCOUTING WILLIAM & MARY
The Tribe enters Friday's game with a 4-4 record after starting the season 3-1. They played to close losses against Duke, Virginia and Old Dominion.
William & Mary averages 3.0 goals per game with Pippin Saunders leading the squad with eight goals and three assists. Meredith Savage has started all eight games in goal for a .583 save percentage.
Friday's game will have live stats here.
SCOUTING NO. 12 DELAWARE
The Blue Hens enter the weekend as the only 8-0 team in Division I Field Hockey. They vaulted to 12th in the Coaches Poll and are 11th in the NCAA RPI. UD has picked up wins over No. 20 Princeton and No. 19 Michigan State.
Delaware ranks second in the nation with 4.88 goals per contest with a scoring margin of 3.0. Freshman Lisa Giezeman has won two CAA Rookie of the Week awards and leads the Blue Hens with 20 points on nine goals.
Sunday's game will mark Richmond's fifth contest against a nationally-ranked opponent this season.
The game with Delaware will be broadcast on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network as produced by SpiderTV. Fans can sign up to watch here. Free live stats are also available.
