Men’s Lacrosse Heads To Sixth-Straight Conference Tournament Title Game

Thursday, May 2

High Point, NC

8:00 PM

University of Richmond

9-6, 5-2

Air Force

10-5, 6-1

Richmond

Air Force

Photo by: Southern Conference

Men’s Lacrosse Heads To Sixth-Straight Conference Tournament Title Game

05/02/2019 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Game Highlights

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team will have a chance to defend its Southern Conference Championship as the third-seeded Spiders posted a thrilling 7-6 victory over second-seeded Air Force Thursday night at Vert Stadium in the 2019 Southern Conference Tournament. Richmond will now play in its conference championship game for the sixth time in six years as a NCAA Division I program (one in the Atlantic Sun, five in the SoCon) since its inception in 2014.

Additionally, the Spiders have advanced to the SoCon Tournament title game in each year of its existence, going five-straight years since the SoCon added men's lacrosse in 2015. The Spiders will face off against top-seeded High Point for the SoCon title and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament Saturday in High Point at noon and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

The victory avenged one of the Spiders' two regular season SoCon losses, flipping the script on the Falcons after falling in Colorado Springs three weeks ago. The win marked the first-ever for the Spiders over Air Force in SoCon Tournament play, snapping a two-game skid to the Falcons. The victory also set up a rematch against the other SoCon team that defeated the Spiders this year in High Point.

The Spiders found themselves trailing 6-5 at the 13:56 mark of the fourth quarter when Air Force's Trey Lervick scored the third-straight goal for the Falcons, erasing an early two-game lead for Richmond in the second half. The Spiders started the comeback with a goal at the 5:52 mark when senior Ryan Lee (South Salem, N.Y.) was able to pounce on a loose ball in front of the net during a scrum and flick it past the Air Force goalkeeper, tying the game at 6-6.

Junior midfielder Tate Gallagher (Ardmore, Pa.) scored the game-winning goal with 3:20 remaining in the game to give the Spiders a 7-6 lead off a pass from senior attack Teddy Hatfield (Summit, N.J.). The goal was the second of the game for Gallagher and the fifth point of the night for Hatfield. Hatfield entered the game as the all-time leading scorer in SoCon Tournament history and added to his career total, raising it to 32 points in seven SoCon Tournament games in his career.

The Spiders' defense sealed the victory over the final 3:20 of the game as Air Force pushed feverishly for the game-tying goal. Richmond forced the Falcons into two turnovers in the closing minutes of the game, including the final one with 30 seconds remaining. The Spiders were able to run out the remaining time with possession as Gallagher raced around the field and did not allow Air Force another opportunity at the Richmond goal.

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jack Rusbuldt (Richmond, Va.) was stellar in goal in the victory, notching 12 saves in the win. The Spiders' defense limited the Falcons to shots from the outside for much of the night as it stuck to its game plan to thwart the Falcon attack.

The game was a defensive battle from the start as only one goal was scored in the first quarter. Hatfield opened the scoring just under two minutes into the game, taking a feed from Tyler Shoults (Warners, N.Y.), who returned to action Thursday for the first time since March 9.

Air Force responded with two straight goals early in the second quarter before Gallagher and sophomore Ryan Lanchbury (Burlington, Ontario) scored for the 3-2 advantage. The Falcons tied the game at 3-3 in the closing seconds of the first half in the hotly contested affair.

Richmond scored the first two goals of the second half as both Hatfield and Lanchbury scored for a 5-3 advantage, the Spiders' lone multi-goal lead. The tally by Lanchbury increased his Richmond and SoCon scoring record to 47 goals this season. Air Force responded with three-straight goals, taking a 6-5 lead early in the fourth and setting the table for the Spiders' comeback.

The victory was the 60^th career win for Richmond head coach Dan Chemotti in his six years at the helm. Chemotti owns a 60-37 overall record in charge of the Spiders, including a 9-6 mark in 2019.

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