University of Richmond
11-5, 6-2
Saint Joseph's
9-6, 5-2
Spiders Knock Off Hawks in Thrilling Fashion,12-11
04/23/2017 | Women's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – Never quit on the Spiders, especially on Senior Day.
The University of Richmond women's lacrosse team never led Saint Joseph's on Sunday afternoon, until Kathleen Berkery received a pass in front of the cage from Kim Egizi and buried the ball in the net with 18 seconds left to give the Spiders a 12-11 comeback victory.
“I thought we showed a lot of fight today,” head coach Allison Kwolek said. “Our defense did a really great job limiting Saint Joseph's offensive leaders and coming up with ground balls to give us more opportunities on the offensive end.”
The Hawks took a 7-4 lead into the half and were dominant on the defensive end, but the Spiders would not give up, outscoring their opponent 8-4 in the second half to take the conference win.
“By the second half, our offense started getting more into flow and finding better looks on cage,” Kwolek added.
Saint Joseph's led 11-9 with 5:29 to play, but the Spiders bounced back to score three-straight in the final 3:12 to move to 6-2 in A-10 play.
Sam Geiersbach led all scorers with six goals on the afternoon, tying her career high that she set against George Washington earlier this season and moving into the top 10 in single-season goals with 51.
Egizi finished the game with five points on two goals and three assists, while senior Melissa Teel scored twice and assisted on two other goals for a career-high-tying four points. Berkery finished the game with two assist to go along with the game-winner.
Senior Leslie Espenschied led a sturdy defensive unit, limiting the Hawks to four second-half goals and holding attacker Nora McCallion scoreless for the first time this season.
Megan Gianforte finished the game with 10 saves in the cage, while she, Geiersbach and Gianforte all collected three ground balls on the day. The Spiders combined to cause 10 Hawk turnovers, with Tegan Helms and Katie Sciandra each causing two.
Caroline Queally won seven draw controls on the day, while Egizi won six to lead the Spiders to a 17-8 advantage in the circle.
“Caroline had another great day on the draw for us either getting it to Kim or setting herself up for the draw control, which was critical in the waning minutes,” Kwolek said. “All in all, I was proud of how the team stayed focused and worked together to come out with the win.”
The Spiders wrap up regular season play next Saturday, April 29, when they travel downtown to face rival VCU. First draw is set for 1 p.m.
