No. 17 Men’s Lacrosse Uses Strong Second Half In Win Over Navy

Tuesday, February 18

Robins Stadium

4:00 PM

University of Richmond

2-1

Navy

2-1

Navy

Richmond

Photo by: Keith Lucas

No. 17 Men’s Lacrosse Uses Strong Second Half In Win Over Navy

02/18/2020 | Men's Lacrosse

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RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond men's lacrosse team used a strong start to the second half and its defense preserved a lead late as the Spiders posted a 12-9 victory over visiting Navy Tuesday afternoon at Robins Stadium.

The victory improves the 17^th-ranked Spiders to 2-1 on the season while the Midshipmen, who were receiving votes in the national polls, suffers their first loss of the year at 2-1. Richmond hits the road for the first of four-straight away from Robins Stadium, beginning Sunday afternoon when the Spiders travel to No. 6 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

Redshirt junior goalie Jack Rusbuldt (Richmond, Va.) led the way in the victory with a season-high 14 saves, while also handing out his first career assist. Rusbuldt's 14 saves are the most since the Southern Conference Championship game when he also recorded 14 on his way to SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.

Freshman attack Richie Connell (Evergreen, Colo.) continued his story book start to his career, recording his third straight game with three or more goals to open his career. Connell scored four goals Tuesday, raising his season and career total to 11 goals in his first three career games.

It marks the second-straight year that a Spider has opened the season with three or more games with at least three goals each. Junior attack Ryan Lanchbury (Burlington, Ontario) began 2019 with four-straight games with at least three goals, scoring 17 goals in his first four games.

Lanchbury continued his scoring ways Tuesday, adding four points on two goals and two assists. Kevin Todd (Collegeville, Pa.) and Brett Randall (Brighton, N.Y.) each added two goals in the victory as six different Spiders scored in the win.

Connell opened the scoring just 1:37 into the game before adding his second while being a man-up at the 7:44 mark for the early 2-1 lead. The teams traded goals with Connell scoring his third of the day in the second quarter for a 4-3 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.

Richmond came out of the break and scored the first three goals and seven out of the next nine during the stretch, taking a game-best 11-5 advantage with 10:54 remaining in the fourth. Randall and Lanchbury scored the first two goals of the third quarter before senior Adrian Nash (Tully, N.Y.) capped the three-goal spurt with a rocket at the 7:52 mark.

Navy answered back with two-straight but the Spiders responded with a four-goal run, extending the lead to six. Lanchbury scored his first to slow the momentum before Ryan Dunn (Towson, Md.) notched his sixth of the season. Todd and Randall scored for the 11-5 advantage but Navy would not go away. The Midshipmen scored four-straight goals, including three in a span of 1:38, forcing the Spiders into a timeout holding an 11-9 lead with 5:38 remaining.

The Spiders settled in and Rusbuldt came up with some big saves down the stretch to keep the two-goal cushion. After one of his last saves of the day, Rusbuldt was able to relieve the pressure as he found Connell behind the defense with a 60-yard pass. Connell was one-on-one with the Navy goalie and easily beat him, slamming the door shut on the Spiders' victory.

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