University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
4-0
Marquette
1-1
Stifling Defensive Effort Leads Spiders Past #16 Marquette, 9-2
02/25/2017 | Men's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – If the old adage, defense wins championships holds true then the University of Richmond men's lacrosse team is in good shape.
A stifling defensive effort by the Spiders highlighted a thrilling 9-2 home victory over 16th-ranked Marquette on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Robins Stadium. The two goals was the second-fewest ever scored by the Golden Eagles.
“Marquette is a tremendous program and we have a ton of respect for Coach Amplo and what's he's done up there,” Head Coach Dan Chemotti said. “Our guys did a great job of executing the game plan, both offensively and defensively. We knew it was going to take a next-level effort to come out with a win and we were able to do so today.”
Defensively, senior goalie Benny Pugh was a monster once again, racking up a season-high 16 saves, one off the program record. It's just the third time in program history that the Spiders have held their opposition to two goals or fewer.
The senior trio of Ryan Berning, Brendan Hynes and Ryan Dennis combined for 10 ground balls and eight caused turnovers.
Sophomore Ryan Lee made history on Saturday becoming the first Spider to ever post four consecutive hat tricks, finishing the day with three goals and two assists. Classmate Teddy Hatfield added two more goals and an assist, while senior Dan Ginestro had a goal and two assists on the day.
Richmond set the tone early when, less than three minutes in, Lee found a cutting Hatfield who put the Spiders up 1-0.
Nearly six minutes later, Lee played table setter again, feeding Ginestro with 6:38 to play in the first to make it a 2-0 advantage. Hatfield quickly made it 3-0 nothing when he took a pass from Ginestro less than a minute later and deposited it into the back of the net.
The defense was absolutely suffocating, allowing just four Marquette shots in the entire first quarter and holding them to just one goal. Freshman Tyler Shoults made it 4-1 after the first 15 minutes when he gathered a quick shot from Hatfield and fired it home as time expired.
Two of the nation's best defenses took center stage in the second quarter with both teams only finding the back of the net twice as Richmond took a 5-2 advantage into halftime.
You don't often hear loud ovations for defensive stands, but in the second half of the contest, that's all you heard as the Spiders held their second opponent this season without a goal, while piling up four of their own to lock up the decisive victory.
Richmond returns to action when they host 19th-ranked Duke next Sunday at Robins Stadium. Game time is set for 12 p.m.
