University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Take On Mercer In Regular Season Finale
04/30/2016 | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – Road games are always tough. Road conference games are even tougher. What about when the other team is playing for the lives?
Well, the University of Richmond men's lacrosse team will find out about all three of those things on Saturday when the Spiders take the field in Macon, Ga. to battle with the Bears of Mercer in the regular season finale for both teams.
Richmond (9-4, 5-1 SoCon) is locked into the second seed for next weekend's Southern Conference Tournament at Robins Stadium. The Bears (5-7, 3-3 SoCon), however, need a win and a Bellarmine loss to wrap up the fourth and final spot in next weekend's tournament.
Next weekend's tournament starts with the semifinals on Thursday with Richmond and High Point squaring off at 5 p.m., followed by top-seeded and 12th-ranked Air Force taking on either Mercer or Bellarmine.
Dishing It Out
Freshman Teddy Hatfield has had quite an under the radar season for the Spiders, currently leading the team in points with 26 points thanks to 13 goals and a team-leading 13 assists.
He currently ranks fifth in the SoCon in assists and is just one away from setting a new program record for assists by a freshman.
Getting Defensive
All season long, everyone in the Richmond program has talked about how the defense is the backbone of this team.
All season long, the defense has lived up to its billing, ranking in the top-10 in scoring defense all year long.
The Spiders enter today's game against Mercer ranked fourth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 7.54 goals per game.
Richmond also LEADS the country in turnovers per game, forcing an average of 10.15 turnovers every time out.
CLEAR!
Watching the preseason practices by the Spiders, it was evident that the Spiders wanted to focus on their ride and perfecting that area of the field.
They've done a pretty good job of that entering today's regular season finale, entering the contest ranking third in the country in clearing percentage at .907.
O Captain! My Captain!
Alex Hatem is entering the final stretch of his time as a Richmond Spider. SpiderTV sat down with him and profiled his journey to campus and as a player.
