University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
9-3, 5-0SoCon
Bellarmine
4-8, 2-3SoCon
Spiders Make It 5-0 In SoCon With 10-7 Defeat Of Bellarmine
04/17/2016 | Men's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Entering last year, the University of Richmond men's lacrosse program was a part of history when it was among the several young programs in the first ever season of Southern Conference lacrosse.
Nearly two full seasons later, the Spiders (9-3, 5-0 SoCon) have yet to lose a regular season conference game, winning their 11th straight SoCon game on Saturday with a 10-7 home defeat of Bellarmine.
“I'm proud of the guys for battling through today's game against a very talented Bellarmine team that we have a ton of respect for and definitely challenges you on both sides of the field,” Head Coach Dan Chemotti said.
Richmond's defense was outstanding once again, limiting to just seven goals on the day and forcing the Knights into 14 turnovers on the afternoon. Sophomore Austin Cates and junior Ryan Dennis each had three caused turnovers to lead the way, while senior Tom Monzo had two ground balls and two caused turnovers on the afternoon. Junior Henry Buonagurio continued to play stellar in goal, registering 13 saves on the afternoon.
Offensively, junior Dan Ginestro tallied his third hat trick of the season with a game-high three goals. For the second time in as many games, senior Alex Hatem found the back of the net twice, and added an assist, while Jean-Luc Chetner had a goal and three assists for a team-high four points on the day.
“We really wanted to make sure that we stuck to playing Richmond lacrosse and execute our game plan,” Monzo said. “Conference games are always a grind and always a dogfight no matter what the opponent and today was exactly that. In the end, we were able to do enough to pull out the win.”
The Spiders used a timely offensive attack to pick apart the Knights early and often, first with Ginestro taking a pass from Chetner and scoring just under four minutes into the game for 1-0 advantage.
Richmond would score three more times in the period, including a goal from Austin Brown with time running out in the period off a beautiful feed from Anthony Faraino to give the Spiders a 4-0 cushion.
Freshman Teddy Hatfield got into the scoring column with a nice move which led to his 12th goal of the season and a 5-0 lead. Two minutes later, freshman Adrian Nash found Hatem for his second goal of the day and a commanding 6-0 cushion.
Four of Richmond's first six goals were assisted.
“We really wanted to be sharp offensively today and take the right shots,” Ginestro said. “We were able to do that early and find some holes and make cuts to set each other up and really execute the game plan.”
The Knights responded with three goals in the final 3:32 of the first half to make it a 6-3 Richmond lead at the break.
The Spiders jumped out of the second half, scoring three of the next four goals, including back-to-back man-up goals within 17 seconds of each other to nearly put the nail in the coffin.
Bellarmine (4-8; 2-3 SoCon) wouldn't go away, scoring the next two goals to make it a three-goal game with 10 minutes remaining, but Chetner found Ginestro for the third time on the afternoon with just over nine minutes to play to deliver the knockout punch and help secure the 10-7 win.
The Spiders return to action when they host 12th-ranked Air Force next Saturday at Robins Stadium. It will be a battle of the only two undefeated teams in conference play with both teams currently sitting at 5-0.
