University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
9-4, 5-1SoCon
Air Force
12-2, 6-0SoCon
Ferocious Spider Comeback Falls Just Short On Senior Day
04/23/2016 | Men's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team (9-4, 5-1 SoCon) trailed by five goals twice on Saturday afternoon but mounted a ferocious comeback at the end of the third period to cut the deficit to two before ultimately going down to No. 9 Air Force (12-2, 6-0 SoCon) at Robins Stadium, 9-8.
Six different Spiders scored on 35 shots against the Falcon defense with J.P. Forester and Alex Hatem leading the way with two goals apiece. Henry Buonagurio made nine saves the loss, the first for the Spiders in 12 Southern Conference contests after winning 11-straight.
“Air Force is obviously a really talented team,” head coach Dan Chemotti noted after the game. “They're top ten in the country, they're extremely well-coached, they have very athletic players. I was encouraged by the way that our guys came back. When it was 8-3 we could've quit but we stayed with it, we generated some transition and we got it to the point where it came down to the wire. I'm proud of that but I wish that between the first quarter and the fourth quarter we had been able to finish some of our shots.”
In the first quarter the defenses showed why both units are some of the best in the in the nation, keeping the first goal off the board until the 1:23 mark of the first quarter when Air Force broke through and took the early lead. Richmond knotted the score, 1-1, early in the second quarter when Austin Brown converted a man-up opportunity. Richmond went on to go 2-5 in man advantage situations while Air Force went 3-3.
The two sides traded goals after that but with 8:59 to play in the second, Air Force took the lead for good with a quick score after Richmond had just tied the game. The Falcons extended their lead to 5-2 by the time the halftime horn sounded despite the Spiders holding a 19-14 shot advantage at that stage.
Air Force picked up where it left off to start the third; scoring twice in less than two minutes to take a commanding 7-2 lead, seemingly, at the time putting this one out of reach for the home squad. Hatem scored to stop the bleeding with 12:47 left in the quarter but Air Force answered at the 9:47 mark to make it a five-goal advantage once again.
However, with 1:15 to play in the third quarter, the Spider offense came alive, scoring thrice during those closing moments, including a fantastic score by Austin Cates with just eight seconds left that brought the Robins Stadium crowd to a its feet. The fourth quarter began with Richmond trailing just 8-6.
The momentum carried over to the fourth quarter when Forester scored his first goal of the game to cut the lead to just one with 12:04 to play. Air Force called for time with 7:28 left and capitalized with a goal to make it a two-goal game once again.
Forester struck again with just five minutes to play but the Falcons were able to clamp down from that point forward despite the Spiders providing some drama down the stretch. Richmond had the ball all of the final 1:09 but managed just one shot despite a pair of timeouts causing the comeback effort to fall just short.
The Spiders will close out the regular season on Saturday at Mercer. While Richmond has secured its spot in the 2016 Southern Conference Tournament, the Bears are still hoping to secure theirs. The tournament semifinals will take place on May 5 and the championship game will be played on May 7 all at Robins Stadium, hosted by the Spiders.
