University of Richmond Athletics
Championship Saturday: Spiders Take On Air Force
05/06/2017 | Men's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - All season long, the entire University of Richmond men's lacrosse program has been focused on one goal: a championship.
That goal is on the line this Saturday when the Spiders take on Air Force for the second straight year with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
With tournament lives on the line, expect tonight's game to be much closer and hotly contested from the opening faceoff.
| SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS - vs. #1 Air Force |
|
| Who | #16 Richmond Spiders (12-3, 6-1 SoCon) vs. Air Force (11-5, 6-1 SoCon) |
| When | Sunday, May 6, 12 p.m. EST |
| Where | University of Richmond, Va. |
| Venue | Robins Stadium |
| Video | ESPN3 |
| Live Stats | Click Here |
Series vs. Air Force (Air Force leads 4-0)
This is the fifth-ever meeting between the two schools with most of them being a hard-fought, down to the wire battles, which this one will be yet again.
All three of the games over the past two years have been decided by two goals or less.
These two programs have each piled up 34 wins over the past three seasons, which is tied for the seventh-most in the country over that span.
A Lasting Impact
Those 14 seniors have left a lasting impact. Here from their coaches and teammates on the legacy they will leave behind
Watch Here
Family Matters
Brendan Hynes has been an All-American candidate for two years for the Richmond Spiders.
Learn why this year may be a little different for the suffocating defender, and just how he got his competitive drive in the latest feature from SpiderVoices.
Read Here
Record On the Line
A win today would set a new regular season wins record for the Spiders. Richmond has won 11 total games each of the past two years with 10 of those wins coming during the regular season in each of those years.
Richmond's 32 wins over the past three seasons is the eighth-most in the country over that span.
Grit and Determination
Austin Cates is the Spiders' star long stick midfielder, an all-conference player and even better student.
SpiderVoices featured Austin's unbelievable grit and determination in its latest feature.
Watch Here
Getting Defensive
The Spiders have long been known for their lockdown D and that's continued this spring with Richmond allowing only 5.44 goals per game, the fewest in the entire country.
Benny Pugh, who is a four-year starter in goal for the Spiders, leads the country in save percentage and goals against average (5.19).
The Spiders rely on seniors Brendan Hynes, Ryan Dennis and Ryan Berning, who have played together for four years now. Hynes and Dennis both rank in the top-five in the country in caused turnovers per game.
Laying the Foundation
This year's senior class was the first-ever recruiting class for Coach Chemotti and his staff. It's the first class to go all four years for the Spiders.
Here's their journey: Laying the Foundation
Boasting About Brendan
Senior Brendan Hynes is the only player in Richmond history with 200 ground balls and 100 caused turnovers and his play backs up those stats.
Hynes, who has been named to the all-conference teams in each of his three seasons with the Spiders, earned Preseason Honorable Mention All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse.
He's the first Preseason All-American in Richmond history.
Sensational Six
Hynes wasn't the only Spider earning preseason recoginition as he was one of six members of this year's squad to earn Preseason All-SoCon honors.
Joining Hynes on the preseason squad was Mitch Goldberg, Ryan Dennis, Austin Cates, Peter Moran and Jean-Luc Chetner.
