University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Mercer
Spiders Dominate Second Half En Route To 12-6 Win At Mercer
04/30/2016 | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – Playing against a team that is playing for its season on their own turf is one of the toughest tasks in college athletics.
The University of Richmond men's lacrosse took on that task and used a dominating second-half performance to power past Mercer on Saturday afternoon, 12-6, to complete its second consecutive double-digit win regular season at 10-4.
“Today was a good test for us. We faced a talented and well-coached team who was playing to extend their season. They jumped on us out of the gates, but once we settled down, we were able to make some plays,” Head Coach Dan Chemotti said. “I would like to congratulate Mercer's seniors on great careers. They're a talented group who always raise our level of play. We wish them all the best.”
Junior J.P. Forester led a balanced offensive attack with his seventh career hat trick. Forester was one of seven different Spiders to find the back of the net in the victory, senior Alex Hatem and sophomore Austin Brown added two goals apiece. Hatem's two goals marked his fourth consecutive multi-goal performance.
“We had a great game plan going into today's game and were able to execute it for most of the game,” Forester said. “We knew that the weather was going to be a little warmer and we would have to be smart and we were able to embrace it and it paid off.”
Defensively, the Spiders were outstanding once again, limiting the second-highest scoring offense in the SoCon to just two second-half goals and forced the Bears into 16 turnovers on the day, 12 of them caused. Junior Brendan Hynes led the way with eight ground balls and four caused turnovers.
“Today was a total team effort. Defensively, we got off to a slow start, but the offense was able to keep us in the game,” Hynes said. “Once our defense settled down, we were able to get some turnovers on our ride. We did a good job of picking up first time ground balls and clearing it first time.”
After celebrating it seniors prior to the game, Mercer used the energy to jump out of the gates with two goals in the first five minutes to grab an early advantage.
Junior A.J. Lapitino scored his first goal of the season to get the Spiders on the scoreboard in the seventh minute. Brown and Hatem found the back of the net in the closing four minutes of the first quarter to even the score at 3-3 after the first 15 minutes.
Brown gave the Spiders their first lead of the game with a goal just over two minutes into the second, but less than a minute later Mercer responded with a goal of their own to tie it at 4-4.
Three minutes later, Forester took a feed from freshman Teddy Hatfield and deposited his first goal of the game into the back of the net to give Richmond a lead it would never relinquish. With the assist, Hatfield became the program's all-time leader in assists by a freshman with 14.
Back from injury, senior Cory Palmer scored with five minutes left to send Richmond into the break with a 6-4 cushion.
Mercer came out of the second half quickly with a goal 47 seconds in, but the Spiders answered with a vengeance.
Richmond poured it on with six unanswered goals over the next 20 minutes, led by two from Forester to seal the 12-6 win and its 10th win of the season.
“We were happy with the way our guys battled through four quarters but we still have a lot to improve upon,” Chemotti added.
The Spiders now enter next weekend's Southern Conference Tournament as the second seed and take on High Point in the semifinals on Thursday at Robins Stadium. Game time is set for 5 p.m.
